DURBAN - A MEETING of the executive committee of the eThekwini Municipality collapsed yesterday amid allegations of “vote rigging” by the ANC.
The meeting collapsed after the DA, IFP and EFF councillors left the virtual meeting after accusing mayor Mxolisi Kaunda of dishonesty, “vote rigging” and treating them like children and with disrespect.
The collapse of the meeting by the opposition leaving was another brutal reminder for the ANC that they no longer have absolute control of the municipality.
The meeting collapsed after opposition party councillors accused the ANC of trying to get one of their councillors, Zama Sokhabase, to vote on an item being discussed despite her allegedly not being in the meeting at the time.
At the start of the meeting at 10am yesterday, Kaunda had informed the councillors that Sokhabase was not well and may not join the meeting.
An item on the city’s valuations roll came up for discussion and the DA raised concerns about an increase in fees to lodge an objection.
In a report from the finance, security and emergency services committee, the municipality attempted to increase the fees that have to be paid to lodge an objection to the value of a residential home on the municipal valuation roll. The current fee is R250 for ordinary residents and the municipality wanted to raise it to R500 in the next financial year.
Opposition parties objected to the policy being passed and the matter went to a vote. At the time it seemed that there were nine Exco members present, five from the opposition and four from the ANC and its partners.
The opposition party councillors pointed out that the ANC had lost the vote and demanded that Kaunda declare that.
However, the mayor insisted on verifying the votes and then his communication cut for about five minutes and there was silence, with neither the deputy mayor Philani Mavundla nor the acting municipal manager Musa Mbhele taking over the meeting in Kaunda’s absence.
The mayor re-emerged on the virtual platform and claimed that he was facing technological challenges and seconds later Sokhabase’s virtual hand appeared on screen to show she was part of the meeting. This triggered an outpouring of anger from the opposition parties, who accused Kaunda of treating them like children.
IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi, who was the first to leave the meeting, said what transpired was a sign of arrogance from the ruling party and a “failure to recognise that they are no more in the majority”.
“They could have conceded defeat on that one item, it shows their arrogance. It is clear that if they continue along this path, more such occurrences are going to happen,” he said.
DA councillor Nicole Graham had complained that Kaunda’s “disappearance” was a ploy to get Sokhabase to join the meeting in order to vote.
“The mayor quickly realised that the ANC had lost the vote. He turned off his camera and microphone and the meeting stalled for about five minutes, with ANC colleagues claiming that he had ‘lost connection’. Bizarrely, Kaunda even put on his microphone and claimed that he had lost connection himself,” she said.
“The DA is considering all options available to us. Kaunda is a councillor, elected to lead a democratic committee. He is not the king of eThekwini and he will not bully us or disregard the views of the people.”
EFF councillor Thabane Miya had demanded evidence to prove that at the time of voting, Sokhabase was in the meeting.
The secretariat office provided a log that showed that she had logged in shortly after the meeting started at 10.15am, but Miya was not satisfied.
“I asked a specific question, whether Sokhabase was in the meeting during voting, and I am not satisfied with the answer so I am also leaving the meeting,” he said.
Kaunda fired back at the opposition parties, accusing them of playing politics. “You are walking out of the meeting after you demanded scientific evidence that she was in the meeting and that evidence was provided to you, you are just playing politics.”
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