Port Elizabeth - Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Athol Trollip will face a third attempt to remove him as the city’s council is due to hear the motion of no confidence on Thursday morning.
Council Speaker Jonathan Lawack has chosen to allow the special sitting to hear the motion, after he received advice on the matter.
The no-confidence motion against Trollip was brought forward by the EFF, whose leader Julius Malema called for the DA to be punished for not voting for the EFF’s motion for expropriation of land without compensation in Parliament.
This is the third motion to be heard as the first two special sessions to hear the matter descended into chaos. The last sitting was permanently adjourned as councillors spoke over each other.
Lawack spent time during the meeting trying to calm councillors down as they spoke over each other during the session.
Political parties had been given an opportunity to pay tribute to Winnie-Madikizela-Mandela, Chris Hani and Solomon Mahlangu.
The ANC had its opportunity, but the ANC and EFF objected to the DA being given an opportunity to pay tribute to Madikizela-Mandela.
Chaos ensued as councillors spoke over each other while Lawack tried to stop the arguments.
Following the chaos, the DA accused the ANC and the EFF of disrupting the sitting because they did not have enough numbers to support the motion against Trollip.
The motion is supported by the ANC, EFF and the UDM. But some smaller opposition parties have chosen to side with the DA. The AIC, ACDP and the Patriotic Alliance have agreed to give the DA the support needed to save Trollip.
The ANC lost the metro in the 2016 local government elections. No political party was able to clinch a majority and this resulted in the DA having to sign coalition agreements with smaller opposition parties in order to have enough numbers to govern the city.