City of Tshwane to start month of March without any leadership

As March approaches, the City of Tshwane will officially have no leadership after a special council meeting to extend acting city manager Augustine Makgata’s period of service never materialised.

The special council meeting meant to be held on Friday afternoon did not come to fruition as members of the ANC and EFF failed attend the sitting. According to ANC Tshwane chairperson Dr Kgosi Maepa, only 54 DA councillors were present in the council.

The only item on the agenda, which was postponed because there was no quorum, was Makgata’s period of service which comes to an end at midnight on Saturday.

The failed council meeting now leaves Pretoria without any leadership as Steven Mokgalapa’s tenure as mayor ended on Wednesday following his resignation. It also automatically dissolved the mayoral committee.

On Thursday, the council meeting to elect a new Tshwane mayor collapsed after the ANC and EFF staged a walkout.

Both parties vowed they would not participate in the special council meeting until speaker Katlego Mathebe resigned from her position, News24 previously reported.

“You are not going to chair this meeting. We will ensure that when we come back next time, you are not sitting there. We are not going to continue with this meeting the way you want it to continue,” said ANC councillor Johnny Mohlala.

EFF councillor Moafrika Mobogoane called on Mathebe to immediately resign before a new mayor could be elected.

“If you resign now, we are willing to participate and elect a new mayor. You denied us an opportunity in January to engage on the matter.”

Mathebe denied these requests, telling the council she had no intention of resigning and that if parties wanted to remove her, they should follow the correct processes.

“I am the duly elected speaker of this council. I will be here until I am legally removed. I was not born a speaker,” she said.

Following the collapse of the meeting, Gauteng CoGTA MEC Lebogang Maile announced he was looking at various options to restore stability in the embattled City of Tshwane.

Among the options Maile said he was considering, was placing the municipality under administration.

Since the start of the year, not a single council meeting has dealt with their respective agendas or concluded business, raising questions of service delivery in the capital.

“As the provincial government, we are very concerned about the state of affairs in Tshwane, particularly in relation to the continued collapse of council sittings. This shows a flagrant disregard for the interests of the public,” Maile said.

“This is deplorable. Tshwane has several service delivery challenges to address as a matter of urgency. Council sittings are meant to discuss and find solutions to those challenges. It can’t be business as usual.”

Friday’s special council meeting was adjourned.

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