A date is yet to be agreed upon for another Nelson Mandela Bay Council meeting following its postponement. The meeting which was scheduled to debate the motion of no confidence in Mayor Athol Trollip, speaker Jonathan Lawack and Chief Whip Werner Senekal turned chaotic on Thursday morning as the meeting degenerated into chaos, with some opposition councillors singing and banging the tables.
Disagreement amongst the councillors forced the speaker to adjourn the meeting twice. A multi-party whippery meeting was called and a decision was taken to postpone it.
Earlier Democratic Alliance (DA) leader, Mmusi Maimane said the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) does not have solid grounds on which to remove Trollip. He said Trollip’s race is the reason the EFF has given. Member of the African National Congress, EFF and United Democratic Movement gathered outside the city hall to demonstrate their unity against the DA.
Maimane attempted to intervene following the disruption of the meeting.
“It’s intolerance and corruption and chaos. See, people are intolerant. The law says this is a public institution, anybody can come. Tomorrow they will kick out more people. How can we allow in a democracy for this to continue? You should strongly condemn it because the Constitution of the republic says every legislature must be transparent and open to the public. I am here as an interested citizen. Tomorrow they are going to kick out the media because they will say you disrupted them, or whatever the case may be. “
EFF leader Julius Malema is adamant that his party will not rest until it removes Trollip. Malema said they are determined to punish the DA for refusing to vote with the EFF during the recent debate on land expropriation in Parliament.
“If we punish them in Nelson Mandela in order to get the message to them, let it be done for as long as the matter of the land is restored firmly on the table. So why Trollip? If he wins, there’s no problem, there will not be a war, and it’s democracy in action. We must be there in our numbers to support our councillors.”
