DA to act against illegal notice to convene a meeting to elect Joburg Speaker
8 December 2019
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has obtained legal advice following a move by the African National Congress (ANC) to issue a notice to convene a special Council meeting to elect a Speaker in the City of Johannesburg on Wednesday, 11 December 2019. This advice recommends actions that will be taken in this regard.
In a recent letter to Johannesburg Mayor Geoff Makhubo, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) MEC Lebogang Maile, instructed the city council to convene urgently to elect a new Speaker and also instructed it that City Manager, Dr. Ndivhoniswani Lukhwareni should preside over the meeting.
This is unlawful, as the position of the speaker is not vacant. Even if it were vacant, neither the MEC, nor the Mayor, nor the City Manager are legally competent to act.
Johannesburg Council Speaker Vasco Da Gama of the DA currently occupies this position, as a motion of no confidence the ANC recently brought against him failed.
The ANC is trying to flex its political muscle by abusing the prescripts of the law.
The DA Joburg Caucus also note the announced composition of Mayor Makhubo's Mayoral Committee.
We view this as a lost opportunity for the Mayor to prove and confirm his allegiance to the residents of Johannesburg by appointing competent and ethically upright individuals to lead and oversee various City departments.
We are therefore disappointed but not surprised that he appointed Cllrs Mally Mokoena and Loyiso Masuku as Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMC's) of Public Safety and Corporate and Shared Services.
The municipal ethics committee recommended that Cllr Mally Mokoena be removed as a Councillor and that Cllr Loyiso Masuku publicly apologises to former MMC of Public Safety Cllr Michael Sun for her disparaging remarks.
The DA will continue to put the residents of Johannesburg first by ensuring the rule of law is upheld.
Issued by Funzela Ngobeni, DA Caucus Leader City of Johannesburg, 8 December 2019
