The Democratic Alliance (DA) is horrified that private security and apparently armed bodyguards of councillors were deployed by the ANC Speaker in the Alfred Duma municipal council chamber to forcefully eject councillors from a council meeting.

Standing Order of Council 41(1)(f) prohibits any councillor from bringing a firearm or dangerous weapon into a council meeting.

Clearly, this rule must equally apply to members of the public and to bodyguards.

Standing Order of Council 21(7), which deals with the removal of a member of the public from a council meeting, stipulates that such removal must be done by a “Peace Officer”.

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A Peace Officer is a public official who has been charged with keeping the peace. It most certainly does not include private and armed security guards hired to protect some of the ANC councillors.

It cannot be justified that the municipality pays for bodyguards for any councillors, let alone uses these unauthorised persons to violently eject councillors from a council meeting.

Standing Order of Council 42(4) makes it absolutely clear that the Speaker MUST adjourn a meeting where the misconduct by a councillor or councillors prejudices the proceedings of the council. The council meeting on June 29, 2017, if prejudiced by the conduct of a councillor or councillors, should immediately have been adjourned by the Speaker.

The Speaker did not have the right to call in personal bodyguards, who were apparently armed, to violently remove a large number of councillors from the meeting.

By adjourning the meeting, it would have given time for calm to prevail and for any councillors who may have been guilty of misconduct to be dealt with in terms of the rules of council.

Any competent Speaker would be familiar with the mere 25 pages of the Standing Orders and would not make such a serious blunder.

This is particularly egregious given that the senior legal advisor to the municipality was seated right next to the Speaker and apparently did not give adequate advice to the Speaker.

The use of these apparently armed bodyguards is a new low to which the ANC is prepared to sink in order to remain in control and in power.

The Speaker, who is supposed to be impartial and non-partisan, was seen to apparently be taking instructions from the Municipal Manager as, soon thereafter, the bodyguards were deployed into the council chamber to eject certain councillors.

The DA will take legal advice as to whether or not to lay criminal charges against:
– The Speaker for calling on armed (if they were armed) personal bodyguards to remove councillors from the council meeting.
– The bodyguards for illegally entering the council chamber carrying firearms (if they were carrying firearms) and for violently ejecting councillors and preventing duly elected councillors from attending a meeting of council.

Alf Lees MP
Shadow Deputy Minister of Finance
Uthukela Constituency Head
Democratic Alliance