Watch: DA councillors ejected from Tshwane council meeting amid heated debate

Chaos erupted during last night’s council meeting at Tshwane House as security guards forcefully removed two DA councillors amid heated discussions regarding the metro’s projects and budget spending.

The turmoil began when Speaker of the Council Mncedi Ndzwanana ordered DA councillor Ofentse Madzebatela to leave the sitting for allegedly causing disruption.

Madzebatela’s refusal to comply prompted the speaker to call security guards to escort him out.

However, other DA councillors intervened, standing in the way to prevent the guards from getting to Madzebatela.

Councillor Katlego Makgaleng was forcefully grabbed by the bouncers as he attempted to shield Madzebatela.

Makgaleng resisted, leading to a physical altercation.

According to the DA, this incident is part of a larger pattern of intimidation and violence perpetrated by the opposition in Tshwane.

The party claims that the coalition is using force to silence opposition councillors when it is unable to win debates in council.

DA caucus leader Cilliers Brink claimed that the coalition was unable to engage in constructive debate, resorting instead to ‘weaponising municipal resources to suppress the opposition’.

He said DA councillors were met with demands for their removal instead of answers to their challenging questions.

“Deputy mayor Modise demanded that the councillors be removed, and the speaker dutifully obliged.

“Bouncers were brought in to forcibly and illegally remove DA councillors Moloto and Makgaleng.”

Brink said the speaker has repeatedly failed to protect councillors from documented assaults by the other political party members and now actively targets his opponents.

He added that the DA plans to open cases against the speaker and those involved in what he called an assault on democracy.

Rekord has reached out to the speaker’s office and Tshwane mayor for more clarity on the matter. No responses had been received at the time of publishing