By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Chaos erupted at an Ekurhuleni Council Meeting on Thursday night as EFF members caused disruption and had to be physically removed during a sitting.
This was as the motion for a vote of no confidence against Ekurhuleni Mayor Sivuyile Ngodwana was being tabled.
ActionSA had put forward the motion of no confidence against Ngodwana owing to his “failure” to deliver services to the people of Ekurhuleni.
The ActionSA, ANC and the DA were understood to support the motion. The EFF wanted the motion to be withdrawn.
Party officials made arguments before the brawl broke out.
Security officials were also involved in the altercation in a bid to stop the clash but eventually the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) got in to remove the EFF members from council.
The tussle was sparked by the parties in support demanding that amendments be made so that they would have more representation from their parties.
The council sitting has been adjourned, with the ANC saying it would schedule a meeting with the Speaker to discuss the way forward.
The Ekurhuleni council sitting has descended into chaos. ActionSA has put forward a motion of no confidence against Mayor Sivuyile Ngodwana. #DStv403 pic.twitter.com/vUG5PzAXns
— eNCA (@eNCA) February 29, 2024
Meanwhile Eskom says it will once again take direct control of load shedding in Ekurhuleni after the city’s repeated failure to adhere to the NRS 048-9:2019 (load shedding) code of practice.
The power utility will take over load shedding for Ekurhuleni’s customers effective Friday, 1 March 2024.
“The code of practice requires electricity distribution licence holders to reduce load during the declaration of a system emergency.
“The recurrence of Eskom taking over load shedding in Ekurhuleni follows the close monitoring and analysis conducted by the power utility, which shows that the city does not reduce the load as required by the NRS 048-9:2019, “Eskom said.
Eskom said it brought the failure to load shed effectively to the attention of the city on numerous occasions.
In July 2023, Eskom took over the city’s load shedding, only to then be requested by the city to hand it back, after it committed to honour the requirements of the code of practice.
“While Eskom appreciates the CoE’s technical limitations in executing load shedding, it has little option but to implement load shedding on behalf of the CoE as the non-compliance puts further strain on the already stretched national grid.
“Failure to implement load shedding when required by all electricity distributors, including municipalities, undermines the integrity and stability of the grid, which may lead to higher stages of load shedding.”
Eskom said that residential and industrial customers from the City of Ekurhuleni can contact the municipality directly for its load shedding schedule or to visit their website at www.ekurhuleni.gov.za.