DA accuses ANC and EFF of forging their own councillors’ signatures
The DA will be laying criminal charges against the Tshwane ANC and EFF for allegedly forging signatures in an attempt to sit for a special council meeting.
Tshwane ANC chair Kgosi Maepa during a press briefing at Tshwane House on 25 November 2019. Picture: Jacques Nelles
The two parties have been relentless in their attempts to oust Mayor Stevens Mokgalapa and Speaker Katlego Mathebe when they submitted a signed petition to Mathebe’s office last week requesting a meeting to table new no-confidence motions.
This after the High Court in Pretoria in December granted the DA an urgent application to challenge the removal of Mokgalapa and Mathebe in what the party called an illegitimate motion of no confidence on 5 December 2019.
The Tshwane EFF and ANC submitted a co-signed and joint petition to Mathebe’s office on 3 January 2020 to table no-confidence motions against Mokgalapa, Mathebe, deputy speaker Zweli Khumalo, chief whip Christiaan van den Heever, the chair of chairs Gert Pretorius as well as to dissolve all oversight committees.
But the speaker found that seven signatures in the ANC’s documents did not match the signatures in the files of the council meeting’s attendance register.
According to the speaker’s office, the same documents seemed to be a “copy and paste” of the signatures that were submitted for the meeting request of 5 December 2019.
“Both these issues render the ANC document improper legally.”
This was nothing but a fraudulent act and the ANC was just “flexing their political muscles” to regain power over the capital city, Tshwane DA deputy chief whip Mpho Mehlape-Zimu said.
“The DA will write to Gauteng cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Lebogang Maile and call for the suspension of those councillors involved in this fraudulent act to be dealt with urgently.
“Furthermore, the DA will lay criminal charges against the fraudulent councillors,” she said.
But the ANC and EFF were persistent, and submitted another signed petition, requesting for a meeting at 5pm.
Maepa said Mathebe was abusing her power as she previously allowed for a special council meeting on 5 December, which was also requested according to Section 29 (1) of the Municipal Structures Act.
He said the party would request the city manager to preside over the meeting.
“The DA is just postponing the inevitable. Even if we wait for the end of the month, the speaker cannot deny the motion (of no confidence) because it is on her,” Maepa said.
This is a developing story.
https://twitter.com/kgosi_maepa/status/1214852019938353153?s=20
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