Johannesburg - Joburg Mayor Herman Mashaba has accused the ANC of not having "enough money to buy votes" as the ANC made a surprise about-turn by withdrawing a motion to remove the Mayor from office.
On Thursday afternoon during a tumultuous council sitting fuelled with ructions and political bickering, ANC councillor Loyiso Masuku stood up and informed Speaker Vasco Da Gama that the official opposition was withdrawing the motion.
Masuku, who was speaking on behalf of the ANC, said the opposition party would reinstate the motion at the next meeting in September.
"Siyabuya (we will be back) second half," she asserted as her parting shot, invoking a sporting metaphor that the ANC would be back.
But the withdrawal drew the ire of Mashaba, who said the ANC couldn't get funding from 'CR17' "to buy enough votes".
This was in reference to the recent allegations that President Cyril Ramaphosa raised and paid out millions of rand ahead of his campaign to become ANC leader, which was dubbed CR17, at the party's national conference in December 2017.
"Maybe they (the ANC) made their commitments (to people) but couldn't come up with the money," Mashaba contended, calling Thursday's sitting "a waste of time".
"Personally, I'm angry because, ANC, the way they operate, it is unfair to our residents and the 35 000 (city employees) who require a stable working environment," the mayor added.
But Jolidee Matongo, ANC councillor and Joburg spokesperson, was adament that the motion had not been cancelled, but rather postponed.
"It's just tightening of the screws. That is why we are saying we are not cancelling the motion.
"The motion is withdrawn for now -- it will (be) served at the September (council) meeting," Matongo explained.
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