Pushing and shoving inside the Tshwane council chambers as emotions run high

By Isaac Mahlangu - 16 January 2020 - 11:52

Tshwane council during a caucus break following a chaotic start to its special council meeting. The DA on the left. EFF in the centre and the ANC on the right.
Image: Isaac Mahlangu

A Tshwane official from the speaker's office and a member of the EFF were embroiled in a shoving match during a break at a Thursday special council meeting in Pretoria.

Following a chaotic start to the meeting, in which the ANC and the EFF demand to have a say on the sequence of items on the agenda, speaker Katlego Mathebe gave councillors an hour break to caucus.

#Tshwane council descending into chaos following a scuffle between an official form the speaker's office & an #EFF councillor during one of the breaks. A special meeting in which #ANC & #EFF want to remove #DA from power is underway. @SowetanLIVE pic.twitter.com/dNn9HRiUtE
— Isaac Mahlangu (@IsaacPat) January 16, 2020

This was the second caucus break in under an hour.

During the break, a female EFF member and an official almost came to blows and other councillors needed to step in and separate the two.The EFF and the ANC have called a special council meeting in which they're trying to remove the DA from power.

The two parties have suggested that the motion of no confidence on Mathebe be the first to be discussed in terms of their a proposed agenda they sent to her office.