How Solly Msimanga lived to fight another day as Tshwane mayor

City of Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga lives to fight another day as the capital city’s first citizen after surviving two votes of no confidence on Thursday.

First‚ the EFF’s motion was disallowed and‚ later in the day‚ the ANC walked out of council chambers.

Speaker Katlego Mathebe ruled that the EFF motion was not compliant with council rules.

Both the EFF and ANC had tabled motions against Msimanga and‚ right up until Thursday’s meeting‚ it appeared that the mayor’s fate was sealed.

Combined‚ the two parties have 112 members and‚ had they voted in a bloc‚ they would have removed Msimanga.

Had either of the two motions passed‚ Msimanga would have been the second DA mayor to be sacked in a vote of no confidence in just three days.

On Monday‚ the EFF teamed up with the ANC in Nelson Mandela Bay to remove Athol Trollip from his seat.

Msimanga lost the EFF’s favour following revelations of an allegedly dodgy R12-billion tender which‚ ultimately‚ got city manager Moeketsi Mosola suspended last week.

After Mathebe’s ruling on the EFF motion‚ its councillor‚ Benjamin Disoloane‚ expressed his unhappiness. He said the party would bring new motions against both Msimanga and Mathebe.

“We are going to make sure as the EFF‚ we are going to take you to court‚ Speaker‚ so that you are going to be compliant‚” he said.

He said the EFF was going to fight to ensure Msimanga was no longer mayor of Tshwane.

“You disallowing our motion‚ Speaker‚ you are declaring a war against us‚” he said.

The EFF later walked out of the chamber‚ leaving the ANC behind.

This meant the ANC would not be able to muster enough votes to dislodge Msimanga - and the party‚ following a two-hour adjournment‚ also pulled out from the meeting‚ saying it was unhappy with the way the EFF was treated.

Addressing the media following their walkout‚ ANC regional spokesman Lesego Makhubela said they learnt from “their sources” in the DA caucus that their motion was also going to be “collapsed” using technicalities.

“How the speaker treated the motion of the EFF‚ is the same way she was going to treat the motion of the ANC‚” he said.

Makhubela said the ANC was going to consult with its legal team on how they would proceed.

Mathebe‚ after the ANC walkout‚ postponed the council sitting because the meeting no longer met quorum.

The ANC motion‚ however‚ remains on the council agenda.

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