Drama as Mogale City mayor axes Speaker, chief whip

Picture: Supplied

Picture: Supplied

Published Jan 17, 2017

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Johannesburg – Controversy continues to dog Mogale City, with ongoing spats between the ANC and the DA/EFF coalition forcing mayor Michael Holenstein to wield his axe on key members of his council.

On Friday, motions of no confidence were passed against ANC Speaker Patrick Lipudi and ANC chief whip Sipho Dube.

DA councillors Jacques Hoon and Earnest Modise are the new Speaker and chief whip respectively.

The ANC is now accusing DA mayor Holenstein of not pursuing proper channels when he convened the meeting.

The DA, in turn, is accusing the ANC of attempting to destabilise the municipality by refusing to convene meetings.

In terms of council rules, meetings have to be convened by the Speaker. It's alleged by the DA that the mayor asked the Speaker to call a meeting last month to pass a vote of no confidence in the Speaker and chief whip, which he refused to do.

He also allegedly refused to convene another meeting to approve an application for a further overdraft to pay municipal officials their bonuses.

The Speaker allegedly also refused to convene a meeting to appoint an acting municipal manager while the interview process for a new one was under way.

Eventually, because a number of councillors requested a meeting to be convened, Holenstein called one on Friday, at which the motion of no confidence was passed with a vote of 39. The ANC has 38 councillors, who were not present. The appointment of an acting municipal manager was also approved.

The DA political head for the West Rand, Alan Fuchs, said the ANC “simply could not accept the democratic process".

@annacox

The Star

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