Maile warns Tshwane speaker to run smooth council meeting - or face the chop

15 January 2020 - 15:29 By APHIWE DEKLERK
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Gauteng MEC for co-operative governance and traditional affairs Lebogang Maile.
Gauteng MEC for co-operative governance and traditional affairs Lebogang Maile.
Image: Mabuti Kali © Sowetan

Gauteng co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC Lebogang Maile has issued a stern warning to Tshwane speaker Katlego Mathebe to run a smooth council meeting on Thursday - or get the axe.

Maile warned Mathebe not to lead the meeting into chaos, similar to the last council meeting where she left midway. That meeting was to discuss a motion of no confidence in Mathebe and mayor Stevens Mokgalapa. 

Both were removed but the outcome of the meeting is being challenged by the DA in court. 

Thursday's meeting, called through a petition by the EFF and the ANC, will be a second attempt to remove Mokgalapa and Mathebe. 

“What the speaker must not do is what she did last time, coming to council and then leave [midway]. The speaker must come into council, take her chair, [and] indicate to council that because there is a motion against her, she is going to recuse herself.

“And then [she must] facilitate that process of appointing the person who must relieve her, that’s what we expect,” said Maile.

He said, unlike the last time, where a provincial Cogta official had to chair the meeting, Mathebe should ensure that such an incident does not happen again.

“If the speaker does not execute her responsibilities, as stipulated in the constitution ... we invoke the powers of the MEC for Cogta, and it has nothing to do with politics, to either suspend or expel her as a councillor,” said Maile.

He said he wanted Thursday’s meeting to continue uninterrupted. 

“That is her responsibility as the speaker. We expect nothing less ... but we also call on the councillors to behave orderly, in a disciplined manner and follow council processes,” said Maile.

Thursday’s meeting is expected to be hotly contested as Julius Malema’s EFF ditched the DA, which it kept in power since 2016, late last year.

It is not yet clear if the ANC will take over political leadership after voting out the DA or if the party will form a coalition government with the EFF.


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