The Democratic Alliance (DA) has laid the blame of the disintegration of today’s council meeting in Germiston squarely at the door of the speaker, Patricia Kumalo, and her poor management of council meetings.
This statement was made in a press statement released by the DA this afternoon.
When ANC councillor, Doctor Xhakaza, MMC for Water and Energy, called black members of the DA “fronts”, the DA chief whip, Clr André du Plessis, raised an objection by way of a point of order. The speaker would not entertain the idea that the ANC was out of order and cited that this was a political debate and that the DA should be quiet, the DA caucus leader, Fortune Mahano, said in the statement.
“She then allowed the speaker to continue. The debate descended into chaos when Clr Xhakaza then said it was a proven fact that the DA would ‘bring back apartheid’.”
“The DA sees this unashamed racism in an extremely serious light and will not tolerate being attacked in this manner. In the past, the speaker has ruled the DA out of order for using words like ‘nonsense’ and ‘waffle’ during the political debate as offensive language. This obvious bias shows that the speaker does not understand her role and cannot be objective. This is not the first time the DA has called for the removal of the speaker.
“Every member of the Democratic Alliance is elected into their position based solely on merit, regardless of their race or gender.
“It also beggars belief that any member of the public or ANC could possibly believe that the DA would bring back any form of apartheid. The party has proven through years of service that it is liberal and believes only in an open opportunity for all. Despite this track record the DA revers the Constitution and abides by its rule of law and according to that legislation the party could not bring back any apartheid style laws,” Mahano said.
“The ANC accused the DA of being scared of political debate and stated that this was the reason for the walk out. The truth is far simpler, it is a matter of principle, and the DA will not tolerate being debased in this outrageous manner at every meeting. The ANC’s accusations prove, beyond a doubt, that it is the ruling party which is running scared of losing the Ekurhuleni Metro to a party which will live up to its promises and take care of every member of the public by providing the basic services that they deserve.”
