Johannesburg - The Gauteng MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Lebogang Maile, and the DA-led coalition government in the City of Joburg are likely to face off after the ANC and other opposition parties asked him to nullify the election of Section 79 committee chairs in the council.
The ANC, EFF and other minority parties wrote to Maile after the election of 16 committee chairs on January 27 this year – all of them from the coalition government – complaining that the process to elect them was flawed.
ANC caucus leader Mpho Moerane in his letter to Maile said: “The last council sitting (on January 18) that collapsed did not conclude, and therefore no decision was taken on the item of the elections of committee chairpersons. As a result, whatever discussions on the item that took place in the last sitting should be disregarded as no resolution was taken by the council or a majority of councillors.”
He added: “Instead of adhering to this common understanding, Councillor (Vasco) Da Gama insisted that the last meeting had taken nominations and therefore today's sitting would proceed straight to the nomination acceptance stage, and would not allow for nominations to be submitted.
On Thursday, Maile’s spokesperson, Lupi Ngcayisa, confirmed that The MEC had received letters from ANC caucus of the City of Johburg, the EFF caucus and other minority parties represented in the council over the election of committee chairpersons.
“The MEC is applying himself to the matters raised by the political parties of the Joburg Council. Once he has applied himself and come to a determination he will inform all the parties accordingly, and by extension the public, particularly the residents of Johannesburg. When that time comes the MEC will be in a position to make a public pronouncement,” said Ngcayisa.
However, political parties in the DA-led coalition government are fully behind Speaker Vasco da Gama’s decision to allow the election of Section 79 committee chairs, despite the protests from the ANC and EFF.
The parties issued a joint reaction, with Gert Niemand, the joint caucus chairperson, and his deputy John Moodey saying: “The coalition partners stand firmly of the view that the Speaker, Councillor Vasco da Gama, correctly applied his mind and the rules of Council in the sitting that took place last week Thursday (January 27, 2022), that successfully elected 16 out of the 17 chairpersons of the portfolio committees of Council. This was important because it cannot be accepted that the work of the Council is continuously interrupted by people who are solely bent on pursuing a power grab at the expense of the residents of Johannesburg."
The joint caucus further said that in the previous meeting the ANC and the EFF, along with smaller parties, withdrew their candidates, which was a matter of record as captured in the minutes.
The caucus said the action taken by the ANC and EFF to withdraw their candidates meant that each one of the coalition candidates for the 17 positions were unopposed.
“Subsequently, the Speaker correctly went through motions of electing each candidate unopposed in terms of the procedure that is articulated in the standing rules of Council," it said.
It further continued: “The coalition partners are confident that any challenge to the Speaker’s decision would not succeed. In fact, such a challenge would be a waste of time, moreover a waste of money to those bringing the challenge. Once again we stand firm, and we congratulate the Speaker. We insist that work of the Council must go on unimpeded. The residents of Johannesburg deserve nothing less."
Political Bureau