Pretoria - Tshwane multiparty coalition partners yesterday pressed criminal charges against ANC councillors caught on camera on Tuesday attacking Speaker Dr Murunwa Makwarela during a council sitting at Tshwane House.
Speaking to the media outside Brooklyn police station, leaders of the coalition government condemned the “unwarranted behaviour” of some ANC councillors. Makwarela, the sole Cope councillor in Tshwane, said he sustained some injuries during the fracas.
“My body is still sore. I am a big guy, but I took some hard beating and I am recovering. I am under medication at the moment,” he said.
The council descended into chaos when the ANC councillors objected to the hybrid meeting, which allowed a few councillors to join online.
Makwarela objected to the ANC proposal for online councillors to be kicked out of the meeting, saying their participation was lawful. Amid the chaos, the Speaker decided to adjourn the hybrid meeting in order to allow it to take place virtually in two hours.
Makwarela’s ruling was greeted with anger and disgust from ANC councillors, who prevented him from leaving the council chamber.
He said three criminal charges were laid against ANC councillors, namely assault of the council Speaker, intimidation, and deprivation of freedom of movement of the Speaker from the council chambers into his office.
“Some intimidation was abusive words of intimidation, threats of killing and so forth, into which the police will be able to conduct further investigations,” he said.
“We will not leave any stone unturned. The acts of violence and anarchy in the house will be condemned in the strongest possible terms,” he said.
He was not in a position to disclose the names of the councillors reported to the police, except to say there were between 12 and 15.
He said that on the day in question council did not have a provision for council orderlies because it had not anticipated disruption during the sitting. Mayor Randall Williams, who was part of the coalition leaders, said: “What happened on Tuesday was totally unacceptable and also unlawful. Now the ANC has decided to disrupt council every time we have council meetings with the aim of stopping service delivery in the city. They do not want service delivery to take place.”
He said the ANC was upset because a few councillors were attending the meeting virtually, and that the Speaker ruled that it was lawful for the councillors to do so.
“They then demanded a two-hour break so that they could go to court and challenge the Speaker’s ruling. The Speaker then offered them that opportunity twice to go to court. They never went to court; they lied. Instead, they came and they became more disruptive because the whole aim was to stop the council from working,” Williams said.
Makwarela said the implicated councillors behaved unlawfully in attacking the Speaker and even other fellow councillors, including other MMCs.
In a media statement, the ANC caucus said it wrote letters cautioning Makwarela against organising virtual meetings, but these were ignored.
“There is no place in the rules and orders of council allowing sick councillors or members on holiday overseas to attend meetings virtually,” it said.
Pretoria News