City circus continues

Jubilant IFP supporters after the motion to dismiss Mayor Denny Moffatt was beaten after a reconvened meeting on Thursday. But a court of law will decide if the victory is valid

Dave Savides

ONLY a court of law can decide whether the motion to dismiss the uMhlathuze City mayor was defeated on Thursday evening.
This after a tense and bitter debate that left no doubt as to the increasing tensions between the ANC and IFP - a rift that could bring the city to its knees.
City Speaker and Chairman of the special council meeting, Elphas Mbatha repeatedly called on councillors and supporters in the public gallery to refrain from insulting and unbecoming behaviour.
However, this did not deter members from slinging insults and allegations ranging from racism to lies and incompetence.

Dismissed
The meeting began with Mbatha deeming that two IFP motions, aimed at dismissing the ANC Speaker and Deputy Mayor, should be removed from the agenda as they were subject to a police investigation.
This was hotly debated, given that Mbatha himself had approved the agenda.
His ruling will be debated at the next Exco meeting.
After a caucus break requested by the IFP, the meeting reconvened to debate the ANC motion to oust Ald Denny Moffatt from Exco and his position as Mayor.
Nearly two hours of political and personal mudslinging ensued, with Moffatt and his supporters defending accusations of racism and poor service delivery.

‘Secret’ ballot
The IFP eventually agreed ‘under protest’ to participate in a secret ballot to decide the motion, after Mbatha ruled that given threats against councillors, including the presence of armed men in one home, secrecy of vote was vital.
However, once members of the IFP alliance marked their ballot papers, these were shown to IFP senior councillor John Harvey for verification.
Of note, Nadeco and DA councillors openly indicated their support of the IFP against the motion to dismiss Moffatt.
This in effect indicated that the IFP would clearly win the majority vote.
At his point, Mbatha declared that the secret ballot agreement had been violated and closed the meeting.

Clear majority
After the ANC left the council chambers, Moffatt called on City CEO, Dr Tonie Heyneke, to elect another chairman and continue the meeting, describing the ANC departure as ‘a walkout’.
Heyneke expressed misgivings that this irregular decision would pass a court of law, but complied.
With 32 of the 60 councillors still present, the motion was then debated by a show of hands and with the ACDP abstaining, the motion was defeated by 31 votes to nil.
An agreement was then made between the alliance parties (IFP, DA, Nadeco and Freedom Front Plus) to meet this week to discuss future strategy.
Holding a combined numerical edge, this is likely to include proceeding with the motions to dump the Speaker and Deputy Mayor, which would leave the ANC in a weakened position.
However, it would fuel the already raging levels of discontent and fears of violence.