Opposition parties in Durban say they will not be intimidated by the ANC about speaking up against the eThekwini municipality after a recommendation was raised during a recent council sitting, that councillors should refrain from saying negative things about the municipality.

ANC leader of the executive committee (Exco) Thembubuhle Ntuli emphasised that the recommendation by no means meant that the ANC considered banning media from attending municipal meetings.

He said it stems from councillors raising concerns that they were reading about Exco issues, they believe stemming from leaked reports, in the media

“Councillors raised concerns that issues were in the public domain before they were discussed and decided upon by Exco. The discussion was centred on measures the city could take to control the issue of reports being leaked to the media before they are discussed by the committee.”

The Democratic Alliance caucus leader Thabani Mthethwa said the DA was opposed to a prohibition to prevent councillors from speaking negatively in the media and would never comply with it because it was ‘illegal’.

“DA councillors will always expose the ANC and the municipality for all their failures to provide services to the residents and the ratepayers,” said Mthethwa.

IFP spokesperson in eThekwini Mdu Nkosi said it would be interesting to see how the ANC would go about ensuring this recommendation succeeds.

He said the ANC cannot tell councillors not to say negative things in the media if the municipality was not doing what it was supposed to do.

“We are not in the municipality by the ANC’s grace, we were voted for by the people, we have rights to express our views. The ANC cannot instruct us, and we will not be shut down by the ANC. I will continue to speak up. I am the spokesperson of the IFP and it is my duty to speak on behalf of my party,” Nkosi said.

Ntuli said the ANC exco caucus wanted to emphasise that it had not taken a position to ban the media from attending exco meetings, nor plans to prevent councillors from speaking to media.

“As the vanguard of the Constitution, we support the freedom of speech of councillors in council meetings, provided they are in line with rules and procedures,” said Ntuli.

Ntuli said they want the city to investigate reports of leaked information and officials or councillors found to be in breach of any restrictions on policy disclosure should be dealt with accordingly.

ANC regional spokesperson Mlondi Mkhize said the ANC had no intention to ban any councillors from engaging with the media; however, it was ANC policy for its councillors to engage with the media in the best interest of the organisation without tarnishing its name.

“Councillors represent the municipalities they are under and we would expect any ANC councillor to speak on behalf of the ANC to not tarnish the organisation’s name.

“We cannot control situations; in some instances a negative thing can occur that involves the ANC or an ANC councillor, whether or not the councillor speaks about it, it wouldn’t change its nature.”

Mkhize said there are structures to deal with things in the ANC and in the municipality and lambasting it in the media or to the public may not fix the issue.