Cllr Maphisa steers clear from council meeting, swearing in of new mayor is withdrawn from agenda
Speaker, Michael Khumalo, told the council that he was withdrawing the items with the councillors’ safety in mind.
IFP councillor, Mncedisi (Cyril) Maphisa, was curiously absent from yesterday’s council meeting, in which he supposed to have been sworn in as AbaQulusi’s next mayor.
He sent his apologies to the speaker, and the items regarding the resignation of Cllr Martin Mtshali from the mayoral position, and the election of a new mayor, were withdrawn from the agenda.
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Speaker, Michael Khumalo, told the council that he was withdrawing the items with the councillors’ safety in mind, in order to protect them from the angry protestors that had been converging outside the municipality since early yesterday morning.
At the gates to the municipality, IFP supporters and members shouted, “We don’t want the cleaner. He should go back to cleaning.”
Security guards had locked the main gates to the municipality denying the angry protestors access to the council chambers.
Following the chaos that ensued at last week’s council meeting, guards also restricted the number of people allowed into the public gallery to 40, and thoroughly searched everyone entering the chambers.
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Last week, councillors were forced to flee the council chambers under a hail of eggs, sour milk, water bottles, punctured pepper spray cans and teargas.
Local IFP members and supporters disapprove of the party’s national structure’s decision to appoint Cllr Maphisa as mayor, believing that Cllr Mtshali is much more experienced for the position.
Before he began to a pursue a political career last year, Cllr Maphisa was a cleaner at Vryheid High School.
