Pretoria - What started as a complaint about political office bearers, allegedly appointed illegally by mayor Solly Msimanga, culminated with bottles, chairs and other missiles flying across the Sammy Marks council chamber on Tuesday.
The ordinary sitting of the council degenerated into chaos again when ANC councillors threatened to physically remove the two officials.
ANC caucus leader Mapiti Matsena complained to council Speaker Rachel Mathebe about Tiyiselani Babane's appointment as strategic executive head. He said the post was not advertised. Matsena used to occupy the same position under the ANC leadership of former mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa, while Babane was a councillor for Cope.
The ANC regional number two also criticised the appointment of former DA chief whip Marietha Aucamp as chief of staff, saying the law didn’t provide for that position in the municipality. He also questioned the appointment of Gert Pretorius, the new chair of chairs in the council.
Matsena said the appointment was illegal because Pretorius was not a chair of any committee and thus did not qualify to be a chair of chairs. Matsena then vowed the meeting would not continue unless Babane and Aucamp left the council chamber. In support of their leader’s statement, ANC councillors kept on shouting: “Advertise the post. DA is corrupt.”
Matsena said allowing Babane and Aucamp to be part of the council meeting would be tantamount to “endorsing their illegal positions”.
Some ANC councillors then walked to the front where the pair were seated and tried to manhandle them. Matsena said he raised the issue with Mathebe, who said she would consult the MEC for Local Government, Paul Mashatile.
Mayor Msimanga stood up to address the issues raised by Matsena, but was heckled by ANC councillors who insisted the two leave. The mayor eventually asked them to go outside and told them that they would come back later.
Msimanga said he didn’t understand why a fracas had been created - it was possible to appoint someone on a three-month basis, while the employer was still looking to make a permanent appointment.
Msimanga said he appointed Aucamp for three months because an official who acted in the position had gone on maternity leave.
Aucamp did return to the council, Babane never did. But she was eventually forced to leave under the protest from the ANC councillors. Babane said: “It is not appropriate for me to speak about the legality of the appointment. The employer should speak about that.”
Mathebe tried in vain to maintain order in the council, but failed as the ANC councillors sang non-stop. She then evoked Section 37, which allows her to order the removal a councillor from the meeting. ANC councillors acted defiantly and refused to leave the chamber, even at the threat that metro police had been called to remove them.
A few minutes later, the leaders of the ANC and DA agreed to caucus about the issues raised by Matsena. After the caucus, Matsena said Msimanga conceded that he had not followed proper procedures in making the appointments. But Msimanga refuted that, saying Matsena must stick to the facts.
Matsena also asked Mathebe to withdraw her ruling that ANC councillors must be removed from the chamber. She complied.
Earlier, some councillors wanted the meeting postponed because it didn’t start on time. The rules state that the council sitting should be postponed if it was 20 minutes late, they argued. But Mathebe stood her ground and proceedings got under way. EFF councillors pleaded with Matsena to refrain from drawing them into the petty squabble between the ANC and DA.
Matsena said Msimanga claimed Aucamp’s position was filled because there was an emergency. “There is no rule that he must follow emergency before he appoints people,” he said, accusing Msimanga of cadre deployment.
DA councillor Elma Nel claimed she was assaulted by an ANC councillor during the fracas and went to open a case at Wonderboompoort police station. She was later admitted to hospital with spinal injuries.
Earlier, Winterveld residents fought with metro police who prevented them from storming into the chamber. The residents, unhappy with their councillor who they said was imposed on them, smashed the glass door, but were stopped.
Later, more chaos erupted when Speaker Mathebe ordered ANC councillor Lesego Makhubela to leave the chamber for being disruptive. He refused, prompting Mathebe to summon metro officers to remove him. But ANC councillors fought to keep the metro cops at bay by throwing chairs and plastic bottles at them.
Pretoria News