Da Gama defends council decisions

14 December 2016 - 16:49 By Staff Writer
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The DA's elected City of Johannesburg speaker Vasco Da Gama.
The DA's elected City of Johannesburg speaker Vasco Da Gama.
Image: Gallo Images / Beeld / Felix Dlangamandla

Johannesburg Council speaker Vasco da Gama‚ says the ANC is instrumental in the collapse of council meetings as tensions culminated in councillors being unable to vote on vital issues.

Da Gama charged on Tuesday that since the election of the new Democratic Alliance-led council the ANC have “done their level best” to obstruct and delay council proceedings‚ ultimately impacting on the council’s ability to serve the residents of Johannesburg.

  • ANC accused of being instrumental in collapse of Joburg council meetingsThe speaker of the Johannesburg Council‚ Vasco Da Gama‚ has accused the ANC of being instrumental in the collapse of council meetings. 

Noting with concern a statement released by the ANC on Monday with regard to the collapse of council meetings in the City of Joburg‚ Da Gama said the ANC’s remarks were disingenuous‚ and amounted to cheap politicking.

“It is important that the public to be informed of the truth behind what is happening in the council meetings and the instrumental role the ANC has played in collapsing these important meetings‚ preventing council from concluding important business.”

DaGama detailed a few incidents in last three meetings during which he said the ANC prevented the council from concluding important business.

These include some councillors refusing to leave after he requested them to‚ some intimidating others and others insulting mayor Herman Mashaba.

Da Gama added that with regard to the postponement of the council meeting on 7 December 2016‚ he was within his right to adjourn the meeting and call a continuation of the failed meeting.

A special council meeting was called for December 12 to allow for the urgent council business (tabling of quarterly reports) to be completed before the new year‚ Da Gama said.

However the ANC was a no show.

“It is also very telling that they chose to miss a meeting where Council was set to vote on an amendment to the Supply Chain Management Policy which would have seen the first open tender system in the City of Joburg as we wage war on corruption. Something the previous administrations had failed to do.

He said the ANC had manufactured chaos in council and he hoped that the caucus came to its senses and put the interests of Johannesburg first.

In its statement on Sunday the ANC said it was disappointed that the two previous council meetings had collapsed.

“This we view as poor political management of Council by the Speaker and the DA‚” said Johannesburg ANC spokesman Jolidee Matongo.

He said the adjournment of the November meeting was a direct failure from Da Gama to apply the standing rules of council.

On Monday the spokesman said the party decided to stay away from the meeting because council needed time to cool off and Da Gama should have called it later.

Matongo said the ANC’s decision had nothing to do with sabotaging the meeting because the party had said since August that it accepted its role as the opposition and the parties present could reach a quorum without them.

The council did not reach a quorum on Monday because some members from the DA were not present‚ and the meeting was postponed until January.

-TMG Digital/BusinessLIVE

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