By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
ActionSA has vowed to lay criminal charges against EFF members who disrupted a polygraph test it was conducting on some of its councillors.
According to ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont, EFF councillors stormed onto private property on Monday morning where ActionSA councillors were being subjected to polygraph testing.
The tests were to determine which party voted against the party line, which mandated support for DA candidate Cilliers Brink for Tshwane mayor.
Led by the party’s regional chairperson Obakeng Ramabodu, they entered the property, disrupted the testing process, and stole the equipment, Beaumont said.
He added that the party would open a criminal case against the three EFF members for theft and trespassing.
“ActionSA is outraged by the criminal behaviour of EFF councillors in Tshwane who trespassed a private venue, which disrupted the polygraph tests conducted on ActionSA councillors and stole polygraph equipment,” Beaumont said in a statement.
ActionSA was conducting the tests after the election of Cope councillor Murunwa Makwarela as the new mayor at last week’s Tshwane council meeting.
The election was held by secret ballot, and Makwarela was supported by EFF and ANC councillors as well as eight councillors from the DA coalition partnership.
The DA and its coalition partners, ActionSA, DA and the Freedom Front Plus, agreed to investigate to find out which councillors voted against the party line.
Meanwhile Tshwane council meeting to elect a new speaker collapsed on Monday after a failure to reach a quorum.
DA chief whip Christo van den Heever announced the absence of 108 councillors from the DA and its multiparty coalition partners ActionSA, FF Plus, ACDP and IFP, rendering their apologies submitted to his office.
Ramabodu accused the DA and its partners of taking “group leave” to deliberately collapse council and ensure it did not meet quorum and did not proceed.
“They know they will lose on voting for the election of the speaker. They are cowards. It is an abuse of power,” he said.
Ramabodu said his party would call on council to take the DA and its multiparty coalition partners to court over their decision to play truant in council.