Special council meeting postponed

Kwatsaduza- A special council meeting called by City Manager Imogen Mashazi was cancelled on Monday.

Mashazi told the council that they had to wait for the outcome of the High Court regarding the interim court interdict application submitted by the speaker of council, Raymond Dlamini, on Friday.

This was to block the special council meeting from sitting when motions of no confidence against Dlamini and the council whip, Khetha Shandu, were to be tabled.

Mashazi postponed the meeting until Tuesday.

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In the court application, it is cited that the urgent application concerns the unlawful decision by the city manager on Friday to convene a meeting of council on Monday.

It seeks an interim interdict to restrain the City and council from continuing with the scheduled meeting.

On Thursday, the speaker collapsed the ordinary council sitting after a group of EFF members turned unruly and physically attempted to remove Dlamini.

This is after the parties failed to agree on the order of the agenda – whether to start with the proposed budget adjustment or the tabled motion of no confidence against Dlamini and Shandu.

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The frustrated fighters felt that the speaker was flaunting the rules of council by deliberately pushing for the first item on the agenda to be the vote for the adjustment of the budget.

Last week, the super seven – the ACDP, African Independent Congress, PAC, Cope, UDM, ATM and the Independent Citizens Movement -submitted a proposal to table the motion of no confidence against the two councillors.

If the two are removed, it will make way for the suspension of the standing orders, and the parties will then submit another motion of no confidence against Mayor Tania Campbell.

Campbell survived a motion of no confidence in November after the ANC tabled a motion of no confidence against her, with the EFF voting with the DA-led coalition.