Speaker calls off meeting to oust him, cites ‘forgery’ of signatures

The Tshwane speaker has scrapped the meeting that was supposed to determine his own political future.

Mncedi Mzwanana called off a motion of no confidence in him after raising suspicion that 10 signatures on a petition that forced the meeting were forged.

The Tshwane multiparty coalition had last week asked Mzwanana, in his capacity as the speaker, to convene a special meeting for Monday in which it would have raised the motion to oust him.

By law, a speaker, upon receipt of a petition by the majority of councillors to do, must call a special meeting.

The coalition said its petition had 108 signatures – a majority in the 214-member chamber.

When Mzwanana failed to call the meeting, the coalition said it had been in compliance with the law, and escalated the petition to the municipal manager.

Again, according to the law, when a speaker is unwilling or unable to perform his duty, such a duty can be taken over by the manager.

According to the coalition, it escalated the petition to city manager Johann Mettler on March 24 who duly called the meeting for March 27.

A meeting called by the manager, by law is supposed to be chaired by the same.

But the meeting was stillborn because Mzwanana summarily adjourned it because it was “illegal”.

Mzwanana argued at the onset of the meeting on March 27 that he had not failed to perform his duty and therefore the petition to the manager was unwarranted and thus outside of the law.

He told councillors that he had received the petition on Friday outside office hours, which met the minimum requirements of the legislation.

“On Friday, March 24, I received a petition around 16:30 – outside normal working hours, however, I did not fail to call this meeting.”

He said on receipt of said petition, his office became aware of a forgery on the petition because “close to 10 signatures did not meet the signatures my office have on record”.

Mzwanana said that based on that evidence, the meeting was therefore illegal.

“This meeting is illegal,” said Mzwanana as he closed it.

Since a letter has been doing the rounds raising questions about the legal standing of motion of no confidence itself including that:

– it did not appear to be on a regular or official Tshwane letterhead

– was dated 25 March, a Saturday. The Systems Act states that “normal or extended office hours is the only time any notice or other document may be served on the municipality, including on its council” and it is therefore self-evident that Saturday at 15:00 is not “normal or extended office hours”

– While the verification of signatures was disputed

BREAKING NEWS – Cllr Lex Middelberg expose fraud, fake, and school boy mistakes by DA Caucus!

In a scathing letter to the City Manager of Tshwane and MEC, Cllr @LexMid has exposed fake signatures and a range of irregularities. The DA coalition (+FF and ActionSA) is DESPERATE! pic.twitter.com/q1Dey1JKRv

— Kgoši Maepa (@kgosi_maepa) March 27, 2023

TSHWANE EFF REJECT THE CITY MANAGER 27 MARCH 2023 SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING IN FAVOUR OF THE SPEAKER’S 28 MARCH 2023 SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING 🚨 pic.twitter.com/bCyvnP8eF1

— EFF Tshwane Region (@TshwaneEff) March 26, 2023

Mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink told Rekord that Mzwanana’s closure of the meeting was “unlawful”.

“He [Mzwanana] has taken several unlawful decisions to prevent the majority from forming a government and tending to service delivery in Tshwane.

The speaker refused to call a meeting to table this motion, despite a majority of councillors petitioning him to do so in terms of section 29(1) of the Municipal Systems Act.

Then, when the city manager lawfully stepped in to do what the speaker refused to do in terms of section 29(1A), the speaker showed up at the meeting, only to dismiss the motion of no confidence in himself.

It’s like a judge sitting to preside over a case against himself.

The result of the speaker’s conduct is going to be more instability and more uncertainty.”

He said the coalition would consult its attorneys as “Tshwane had been hijacked by the ANC-EFF coalition”.

“We’re not going to stand back and watch the city being destroyed.”

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