Newcastle - The EFF in the Amajuba District Municipality in KZN has filed a motion of no confidence against the IFP Speaker, Siphamandla Zulu.
In its written motion, the red berets accused Zulu of bias, incompetence and dishonesty and it wants him out as soon as possible.
The motion was filed by the party’s councillor, Phumzile Mgcina.
“A vote of no confidence is advanced on the following grounds; 2.1. Biasness and incompetency: 2.1.1. Whenever views and opinions for debates are advanced from the opposition benches, they are always disregarded in favour of the counter views from the IFP Caucus, this is done without following proper procedures as set out in the Standing Rules of Order.
UPDATE: Here is how parties hold seats in the IFP-led Amajuba district municipality where the EFF has filed a motion of no confidence against the Speaker, Siphamandla Zulu & 2 others. ANC – 9, IFP – 10, DA – 2, TSSA – 3, EFF – 4 and ASA – 1. ***IFP, DA & TSSA vote together. @IOL
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) June 13, 2023
“2.1.2. Often when Chairing the Speaker’s incompetency always results in the abrupt ending of the meeting which normally occurs when serious political engagements arise, this action often results in the collapse of the meeting, mostly very important meeting where issues pertaining to the service delivery are discussed.
“2.2.Dishonesty: The Speaker is dishonest and often lies when chairing the meetings of council, a case in point was when the Speaker lied to the council meeting when he realised that it was not going his way, that he received an advise (sic) from Cogta that a meeting should be adjourned, we later discovered that Cogta never advised of anything close to those sentiments, he always is lenient to the councillors of his caucus.
“2.3.Standing Rules of Order: councillor Zulu always fails to confide himself within the Standing Rules of Order, we initially thought it was a deliberate act to ignore them, to the contrary we honestly discovered that the Speaker is ignorant on this subject, which confirms our position on his competency as the Speaker,” Mgcina wrote in her motion
The date for the special council sitting has not been set yet. Also in the firing line is the Chief Whip, Andile Nkosi from Team Sugar South Africa, a coalition partner of the IFP.
Also in the firing line of the EFF is the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) chairperson, Joseph Thusi from the DA , another coalition partner of the IFP.
The EFF accused him of closing investigations prematurely.
Allegedly, he also participated in and bought a vehicle in a municipal auction he approved and he never disclosed that.
“Firstly, that the Honourable councillor Thusi who also serves as a council and chairperson of MPAC deliberately breaches all pieces of legislation by parti(ci)pating in the auction that was convened by Amajuba District Municipality where he also bought items that were part of the auction.
“Secondly, that the Honourable councillor in question didn’t disclose his interest in the auction whereas he was part of the meetings where the auction was initiated and approved. This therefore renders the said councillor conflicted and in breach of the code of conduct.
“Thirdly, that we therefore call upon the Honourable Speaker to institute a formal investigation against the chairperson of MPAC with the view to bring the serious misconduct on the part of the said Honourable councillor, and also the chairperson of MPAC has removed some important items from the agenda for investigation that was supposed to be discussed without consulting the committee,” reads the motion sent to the municipal manager and the Speaker.
In its crusade, the EFF also wants the Chief Whip of the council, Andile Nkosi from Team Sugar South Africa (TSSA), a coalition partner of the IFP, out of his position.
The motion against Nkosi was filed by Sibusiso Sizani and it was supported by Nkosivumile Zulu - both are EFF councillors in the district municipality anchored in Newcastle.
They accused Nkosi of bias and incompetence, hence they want him out.
The spokesperson of the municipality, Sbonelo Cebekhulu, did not comment when asked whether the date for the special sitting has been set.
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