Cape Town - The ANC and several smaller opposition parties in the City of Cape Town say they intend to file a court application to have Wednesday’s council meeting - which barred the ANC from attending - declared illegal.
This would mean that all decisions taken at the reconvened meeting, including the adjustments budget and renaming of Table Bay Boulevard, were invalid.
But mayoral spokeswoman, Pierrinne Leukes, said: “The ANC is either determined to prevent the city from working or they don’t understand council procedures after the four years that they have been in opposition.
Wednesday’s ruling by the Speaker was within the rules and regulations of council procedures.”
Members of the ANC, New National Party, Al-Jama’ah Party, PAC, and Cope held a joint press conference on Thursday in what was described as “the start of a united front” to defend democracy in the city.
Tony Ehrenreich, as leader of the opposition in the metro, said these parties represented 40 percent of the electorate, and would stand together to defend the rights of the poor in the city.
The press conference was a notice to the Local Government MEC and to the Department of Co-operative Governance that the city had acted illegally, he said. The party would also send a formal request to the ministries for them to intervene.
“We are in agreement that the council process was fatally flawed in relation to its constitutional responsibilities,” said ANC chief whip Xolani Sotashe.
Sotashe said the ANC had intercepted information before Wednesday’s council meeting suggesting the DA was preparing an alternative meeting venue.
“We met with the Speaker and said we anticipated a robust debate and asked him to be consistent in applying the rules. Then the DA asked for a caucus and after lunch the Speaker’s tone had changed.”
It was during the second part of the meeting that deputy mayor Ian Neilson introduced what he said was a procedural motion to end all debate on three items dealing with demolition of houses in Plumstead.
According to the list of speakers, which is agreed upon by chief whips of the respective parties before the meeting, there were several speakers waiting to talk on the item.
Meanwhile the city confirmed that JP Smith, mayoral committee member for safety and security, would lay charges against ANC councillors caught in video footage abusing law enforcement officers. Smith confirmed that metro officers were hit, kicked, verbally assaulted and even spat at.
DA councillors were also caught up in the scuffle, and injured.
But the ANC said on Thursday that metro police “manhandled” councillors who were trying to attend the meeting. Sotashe said the mayor’s leadership style was to blame.
“We are led by a street fighter. The language she uses on council scares us.”
Cape Argus