The ANC and EFF in Tshwane are deliberately collapsing council meetings in order to give way for the city to be placed under administration.
This is according to the DA national leadership who on Wednesday descended on the troubled metropolitan municipality to try and get a hold on the capital city.
The city’s council has not been able to pass budgets, elect mayor and about six sittings since last year have ended up collapsing with the two main opposition parties walking out.
The DA leader John Steenhuisen said they believed the ANC was using the calls for council speaker Katlego Mathebe to deliberately bring instability in the city.
Without council sitting, the city is unable to properly deliver services as no contracts can be signed or any kind of action taken without council approval.
He said they were using Mathebe to buy themselves time to negotiate further on how they will vote with each other and to also give Gauteng Cogta MEC Lebogang Maile ammunition to place Tshwane under administration.
“I think the speaker is a convenient scapegoat for them to get away from the fact that they are just trying to buy time for the negotiations all the while service delivery is comprised and people of Tshwane are placed at great risk of suffering,” Steenhuisen said.
ANC, EFF want City of Tshwane to be place under administration - DA's Steenhuisen
The ANC and EFF in Tshwane are deliberately collapsing council meetings in order to give way for the city to be placed under administration.
This is according to the DA national leadership who on Wednesday descended on the troubled metropolitan municipality to try and get a hold on the capital city.
The city’s council has not been able to pass budgets, elect mayor and about six sittings since last year have ended up collapsing with the two main opposition parties walking out.
The DA leader John Steenhuisen said they believed the ANC was using the calls for council speaker Katlego Mathebe to deliberately bring instability in the city.
Without council sitting, the city is unable to properly deliver services as no contracts can be signed or any kind of action taken without council approval.
He said they were using Mathebe to buy themselves time to negotiate further on how they will vote with each other and to also give Gauteng Cogta MEC Lebogang Maile ammunition to place Tshwane under administration.
“I think the speaker is a convenient scapegoat for them to get away from the fact that they are just trying to buy time for the negotiations all the while service delivery is comprised and people of Tshwane are placed at great risk of suffering,” Steenhuisen said.
He said they would be appealing, especially to the EFF to attend and sit throughout the council sittings as it was their job.
Maile is tomorrow expected to make an announcement on the actions he would be taking following the instability of the metropolitan.
It is said that he might place the city under administration.
“You can’t keep collapsing council meetings and I don’t think it’s right that the MEC who’s charged with responsibility of Cogta is actively encouraging this behaviour to open the door for him to intervene.
“I think it’s irresponsible because you are basically telling councillors ‘collapse the structures of municipality so that I come in’ that’s not what section 139 was intended to do,” said Steenhuisen.