Cape Town – Mayoral committee member for safety and security, and social services JP Smith came to newly elected mayor Dan Plato’s defence when ANC City leader Xolani Sotashe questioned his leadership.
Sotashe said Plato was as bad as Smith and the idea of having them at the helm of the city was a scary thought given their record in fighting crime.
Council had convened for the election of a new mayor following the resignation of Patricia De Lille last week. There was an exchange of barbs between the opposition party members, with Smith taking exception to a swipe from Sotashe regarding Plato.
“He is three times the leader you are,” said Smith.
The exchanges continued into the council meeting as 208 councillors voted in the chamber, with 6 spoiled votes. Plato took the vacant seat with 146 votes. The ACDP’s Grant Haskin received three votes, while Sotashe garnered 53.
This is the second time Plato has donned the mayoral chain, having served between 2009 and 2011. The DA’s provincial council passed a unanimous motion of confidence in him.
Plato said now that there was a specialised gang unit, he wanted to see it become a permanent function of the police in the province and in the City.
Sotashe said the lengths to which the DA had gone to get rid of De Lille had shown the party for what it was.
“If it’s easy for the DA to purge a leader who gave them a two-thirds majority vote in the City; what does it say about the DA’s ease with which it purges its ordinary members?
“Today the DA is giving us Dan Plato, a man who has never won any elections, always governs without a mandate, with the worst record in his previous portfolio, and they expect the people of this City to accept this,” Sotashe said.