Cape Town - The dust may have settled after the City of Cape Town’s explosive first council meeting of the year, which saw ANC councillors scuffling with metro police when they were barred from attending, but opposition parties say they are still taking legal action to have the meeting declared invalid.
The ACDP has lodged a complaint with the Public Protector, calling for an “urgent investigation of the unlawful and unprofessional conduct of certain councillors and officials”.
Meanwhile the ANC, with the support of the smaller opposition parties, was consulting with its lawyers about possible legal action.
Xolani Sotashe, leader of the ANC in the metro, said the party wanted to have a solid legal case before it approached the courts or the Public Protector.
The meeting on January 28 was tumultuous, with both sides of the council chamber engaging in heated debate.
The ANC had announced the day before that it intended to bring a motion of no confidence in mayor Patricia de Lille, and the party had contacted the Speaker to have a secret ballot.
Speaker Dirk Smit indicated that the matter would be dealt with later in the meeting when the motions were heard, but the meeting unravelled before that could take place.
Soon after lunch, anger erupted after deputy mayor Ian Neilson proposed scrapping the speaking time on controversial agenda items dealing with the proposed demolition of Plumstead houses to make way for the MyCiTi route.
The ANC objected and were asked to leave the chamber.
When they refused, the Speaker adjourned the meeting so that it could reconvene in a new venue without the ANC.
In his submission to the Public Protector, Grant Haskin, ACDP caucus leader and provincial chair, said the fracas that had ensued outside the new venue meant that only a handful of DA councillors were able to attend the reconvened meeting.
Haskin said the public and media were not present at a meeting where critical issues including the adjustments budget and the integrated development plan were approved. In terms of the Municipal Systems Act, meetings at which these matters are considered must be open to the public.
Haskin said the ACDP had asked the Public Protector to investigate and recommend that the January 28 meeting should be repeated to validate the decisions that were made.
Meanwhile, Smit said his office was working through the CCTV and other footage taken outside the Podium Hall when the chaos erupted.
The images would be used to identify officials who could face disciplinary action for their behaviour.
Cape Argus