ANC and EFF sabotage service delivery one more time

28 February 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is disappointed that this afternoon the African National Congress and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) failed to attend another Special Council Meeting to extend the arrangement of the Acting City Manager, Augustine Makgatha.

This effectively means that as from tomorrow, 1 March 2020, there will be no accounting officer in the City of Tshwane which will affect the delivery of services to residents and employee salaries.

It is ultimately the residents of Tshwane that will suffer because the disruptions of Council programmes are aimed at stopping service delivery, at the expense of the residents.

The DA believes that the ANC and the EFF in Tshwane are hell-bent on collapsing the DA-led administration.

The DA will now focus its efforts on ensuring that service delivery continues to run smoothly in the City of Tshwane. And for that reason, we need Council to run smoothly sooner rather than later.

The conduct of the ANC and EFF Councillors is a clear breach within the code of conduct for Councillors.

Section 3, as set out in the Municipal Systems Act states that “ a Councillor must attend each meeting of the of the municipal council and of a committee of which that councillor is a member, except when (a) leave of absence is granted in terms of an applicable law or as determined by the rules and orders of the council; or (b) that councillor is required in terms of this Code to withdraw from the meeting.”

In light of this and the fact that this is the sixth meeting where the members have either walked out or failed to attend, all Councillors from the ANC and EFF caucuses will be referred to the Special Leave Committee to investigate the breaches and conduct.

This investigation will be able to determine which sanction for non-attendance of meetings as per Section 4 of the Systems Act would be most fitting in this regard.

We want to assure the people of Tshwane that the DA will continue to work tirelessly to bring various political parties together with a goal of approving all reports to ensure service delivery to the residents of Tshwane who are our first priority.

We understand that different parties hold different views, but it is of utmost importance to put those views aside and work together to ensure the service delivery the people deserve.

The ANC and EFF must allow Council proceedings to go ahead, to allow the DA-led City of Tshwane to continue delivering services to the residents

Issued by Randall Williams, DA Tshwane Mayoral Candidate, 28 February 2020