The ANC, EFF, UDM, Patriotic Alliance, Al-Jamah and others pulled out of a council meeting to elect the chair of chairs after several attempts to delay the council meeting.
The council meeting, which turned violent last week, was adjourned at least five times on Tuesday before COPE’s Colleen Makhubela was elected unopposed to the chair of chairs position after the EFF’s Nonhlanhla Radebe withdrew.
The opposition parties had accused the council speaker of being biased after he declined for the vote to be held in secret. The EFF was the first to announce its withdrawal from the voting process.
The minority opposition bloc, including the ANC, represented by the African Independent Congress’ Margaret Arnolds, also withdrew participation.
In a surprising move, some councilors in the minority bloc left their seats with their hands tied with chains, raising clenched fists and expressing dissatisfaction with the speakers’ refusal for the secret ballot. They argued an exception could be made as voting for the same positions in the Ekurhuleni metro was conducted through secret ballot.
Councilors also demanded bottled water, which was initially barred from the venue after councilors allegedly used them to assault one another at last week’s meeting, which left eight people injured.
The precinct was heavily guarded by police, and before proceedings could commence, councilors demanded their removal.
They also demanded several caucus breaks which some councilors characterized as delaying tactics. The continued disruptions may see the city unable to timeously pass its budget for 2022/2023.
The speakers’ attempt to put an end to the breaks was not successful. Chaos erupted as some councilors left their seats, chanted and sang, wagging fingers and shouting about their rights being violated. Some went as far as telling the speaker to stop “micromanaging” them.
Council was adjourned to January 27, when chairpersons of portfolio committees are due to be elected.
Sources: Times LIVE, EWN
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