JOHANNESBURG – The City of Johannesburg has, on its third try, successfully elected new Section 79 committee chairs on Thursday.
This as members of the opposition claim Council Speaker Vasco da Gama presided over a fraudulent sitting.
The #JoburgCouncil meeting is being held in line with Directive 6.7 of the Regulations issued by the Minister of Cogta on 3 July 2020, read together with the adjusted Level 1 Regulations issued by the Minister of Cogta on 30 September 2021 ^GZ pic.twitter.com/PwockAZsb8
City of Joburg (@CityofJoburgZA) January 27, 2022
Violence broke out the first time the city attempted to elect new chairs, with the second sitting characterised by long delays and a walk out by the African National Congress, Economic Freedom Fighters and the smaller parties.
The two bigger parties had wanted voting to happen via secret ballot, while the EFF had also tried to use its support of the Inkatha Freedom Party in municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal as leverage to get it not to vote along with the Democratic Alliance coalition government’s nominations for chairs.
On Thursday, the minority parties also left the sitting, threatening to go open a case against Da Gama.
Opposition parties insist the speaker lacked integrity and impartiality, bringing into question the two previous sittings.
The ANC has threatened to take legal action against Thursday’s council session.
Artmotion S.Africa
