The City of Ekurhuleni is convening an extraordinary council meeting to elect a new speaker.
This follows the abrupt resignation of former speaker Nthabiseng Tshivenga, reportedly on the orders of her party, the EFF.
Predictions are that the DA will emerge victorious after the failure of the two co-governing parties to see eye to eye.
So deep is the breakdown that the two coalition partners are contesting against each other for the speaker position, with the ANC fielding Dora Mlambo against EFF Gauteng chair and former finance MMC Nkululeko Dunga.
Meanwhile, the DA has thrown the name of its chief whip, Lucky Dinake, into the hat.
A council insider said it was likely that the fight between the coalition partners might open a gap for the DA to emerge victorious.
“Smaller parties are likely to vote for the DA and not the EFF or ANC, because the ANC already has the mayorship.”
The senior ANC leader suggested that the emergence of a DA speaker might not be the worst outcome.
“The DA occupying the speaker position might be good for Ekurhuleni citizens. It will balance ideological orientation to service delivery in the executive as well as oversight in the legislature. The majority of councillors want a multi-party arrangement based on principles of good governance to optimise service delivery.”
Dunga accused the ANC of going against the principles upon which the coalition was established.
“The agreement of the establishment of co-governance remains the same; hence, we have submitted a candidate. It is the ANC who are contesting their own resolutions by submitting a candidate to contest the EFF. It must be noted that the EFF has not disrupted any governance, but it is the ANC who want to continue to change the conditions of agreements on platforms such as legislatures and councils.”
An ActionSA caucus insider said it was clear the DA would enter the coalition.
“That coalition arrangement is a disaster, and we don’t want any part of that. The DA is using the fact that the ANC and EFF are fighting, and they are siding with the ANC. [Mayor Nkosindiphile] Xhakaza has been shopping for coalition partners for a while now. It is obvious that the DA is their next best bet.”
We have decided we want to completely remove them or cut them down to size
ActionSA national chair Michael Beaumont confirmed his party deployees in the council would spoil their ballots.
The ANC has 86 seats, while the DA is the second biggest party with 65 councillors. The EFF comes in at third place with 31 seats, while ActionSA has 15,
The number of seats needed for a majority is 113 in the 224-seat council.
Recently, the Sunday Times reported the mooted reconfiguration of the municipality’s government, in terms of which Xhakaza plans to oust EFF members from his mayoral committee.
“We have decided we want to completely remove them or cut them down to size,” said a source close to the matter.
The source added that there was a strong push for the Ekurhuleni ANC to get rid of the EFF in its executive, as the relationship between the two parties had deteriorated beyond repair.
The council will deliberate on the three contenders and is expected to announce a winner on Monday afternoon.
This is a developing story.
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