Fear of looming protests in Tshwane metro

Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga has urged residents not to allow themselves to be used as political pawns, Rekord East reports.

Msimanga said he was aware of unconfirmed reports of looming protest action aimed at destabilising the metro and disrupting services.

This comes after Thursday’s thwarted attempt to oust him.

Msimanga, who survived two motions of no confidence against him, said he intended to continue his work regardless.

“We have been distracted for far too long and the people of Tshwane deserve service delivery.”

He said he would not waste his time in office worrying about what the ANC wanted to do.

“We will not be distracted by the political posturing and grandstanding of the ANC,” he said.

“We are forging ahead with our commitment to stabilise, revitalise and deliver to the people of Tshwane.”

Last Thursday, the embattled mayor entered the council chambers with the two motions of no confidence hanging over his head.

They were likely to succeed as both the ANC and EFF vowed to vote together to oust him.

Msimanga survived after the EFF’s urgent motion of no confidence was disallowed by speaker Katlego Mathebe.

Mathebe ruled out the EFF’s urgent motion of no confidence as they did not submit a written motivation.

The EFF caucus subsequently walked out of the proceedings and did not return to the council.

This paralysed the ANC’s plan to oust Msimanga as it needed the EFF’s support for its own motion against the mayor to succeed.

The motion tabled by the ANC did meet all requirements and complied with the procedures of council.

As such it still stood, leaving the speaker with 30 days to once again decide the fate of the embattled Tshwane mayor.

ANC chair Kgosi Maepa told reporters his party had not lost momentum and would still be seeking to remove the mayor.

He said the ANC would be joining the EFF in court because they want an independent institution to review the decision of the speaker on the EFF motion.

After the sitting, Msimanga told reporters that the EFF was not genuine in the issues they were raising in their motion and it was clearly just politicking.

He, however, admitted that the DA needed the EFF and was still willing to work with the party to continue to govern.

“We are going to reach out to the EFF. We are going to work with them. It would be delusional to think that we can do it without the EFF,” said the mayor.

“We might not be in a solid formal partnership, but they have worked with us on a number of things,” said Msimanga.

Speaking on the speaker’s ruling against the EFF’s motion, he said the speaker properly applied her mind.

The aggrieved political parties were welcome to seek any remedy they saw fit, said Msimanga.