Pretoria - Council speaker in Tshwane, Mncedi Ndzwanana, once again has an axe hanging over his head after a multiparty coalition bloc in the metro launched a renewed bid to oust him from office through the tabling of a no-confidence motion against him.
This comes after ActionSA submitted a motion to get rid of Ndzwanana despite previous failed attempts to remove him.
Ndzwanana’s ascension to the speaker’s position in March was marred with controversy after 69 votes belonging to the DA were declared as spoiled by the Electoral Commission of South Africa after party councillors used numbers to vote, and not crosses like others.
A sole councillor from the African Transformation Movement, Ndzwanana was supported by votes from the EFF and ANC to take up the reins as council speaker after he won against ActionSA’s councillor Kholofelo Morodi.
ActionSA, which is backed by a multi-party coalition – DA, IFP, FF-Plus and ACDP – would like to take over the speaker’s position as part of the coalition pact.
DA Tshwane caucus spokesperson Jacqui Uys confirmed that ActionSA had put in a motion to remove the speaker.
“The DA as a coalition partner is aware of the motion to be tabled on June 29, and supports it. To ensure a stable coalition and government, it is important that the signed coalition agreement is implemented,” she said.
Uys said the coalition government could not afford to have “someone from outside of the coalition in a key position, as this allows for opposition agendas to work against those of the governing coalition”.
“We have seen this where in the past months important reports did not serve and were delayed from the end of February to mid June as the council meetings were postponed,” she said.
Ndzwanana was yesterday tight-lipped about the renewed bid to get rid of him.
He wouldn’t comment on whether he was worried about the possibility of being unseated by the coming motion.
The EFF in Tshwane previously threatened to revolt against mayor Cilliers Brink should Ndzwanana be removed.
Party regional leader Obakeng Ramabodu implored the multiparty coalition “to conduct itself in a cultured manner by allowing the speaker to do his work unhindered”.
“The political phrase as pronounced, ‘When you touch our speaker, we deal with you’ has nothing to do with acts of violence, but is an expression of disapproval against hindering the speaker from doing his work peacefully as required by law,” he said.
Pretoria News