Pretoria - The first ordinary council sitting of the year appeared to be in jeopardy last night after it emerged that members of the EFF might not pitch.
In addition, insiders within the ANC said the official opposition would demand the resignation letter from Executive Mayor Solly Msimanga.
Should he refuse, the ANC councillors could stage a walkout, rendering the meeting unconstituted.
On Wednesday, the Pretoria News learnt that the EFF was preoccupied with preparations for the launch of the party’s 2019 general election manifesto, billed for Giant Stadium in Soshanguve on Saturday.
Chief Whip of council Christo van der Heever, said: “Yes, the EFF submitted leave for a few days till tomorrow (today).”
It was further confirmed that the EFF issued apologies for all its councillors during a programming committee meeting, hosted by the speaker with different political parties in preparation of the council meeting.
The ANC, meanwhile, believed Msimanga undermined council by his recent public announcement that he would quit within the first two weeks of February, party insiders said.
Msimanga, who is attending council for the final time as executive mayor, said he was resigning to focus solely on his role as Gauteng premier candidate for the DA in the general election.
But ANC regional chairperson and caucus leader Dr Kgosi Maepa denied that the party would demand Msimanga’s resignation letter.
“The ANC is not going to be demanding anything. The ANC will participate in the processes of council,” he said.
By late Wednesday, Msimanga had not yet submitted his resignation to speaker Katlego Mathebe.
This was confirmed by the strategic executive head in the office of the Speaker, Tiyiselani Babane, who said: “The speaker has not received the letter as yet.”
Msimanga is expected to present the municipal audit report; the Auditor-General has given the City under the DA-led administration an unqualified opinion.
The report has also put City manager Dr Moeketsi Mosola under the spotlight again as it touched on the finding that his awarding of the R12billion infrastructure management tender GladAfrica was irregular.
The report, leaked last week, effectively blamed Mosola for issuing the tender in November 2017 outside the legal prescripts. The company had already been paid R317million.
In the wake of the report, the ANC called for Mosola’s head, but he has refused to be drawn into calls for him to step down.
Council is also expected to entertain a motion brought by Msimanga to suspend Mosola. The motion was deferred to this month during the last council sitting in November 2018.
Meanwhile, the DA Gauteng chairperson Mike Moriarty said the selection process for the mayoral candidate would be concluded this weekend.
It was hoped that members of the selection panel would make recommendations about the four interviewed candidates to the federal executive, which would then make a final call on the successful candidate, he said.
The four shortlisted candidates are Mathebe, MMC for Finance Mare-Lise Fourie, MMC for Economic Development and Spatial Planning Randall Williams and MP Stevens Mokgalapa.
Moriarty said it was expected that the election of the new mayor would take place on February 12 during a special council sitting.