By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) in Tshwane has withdrawn its motion of no confidence against Tshwane executive mayor Cillier Brink.
Tshwane is currently run by a coalition comprising the Democratic Alliance (DA), ActionSA, Freedom Front Plus (FF +), African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and other smaller parties.
However, this has not been consistent since the 2021 municipal election, when a revolving door of executives was evident.
The city of Tshwane, with 15 parties in its council, is currently headed by Brink, who has the backing of coalition partners ActionSA, FF+ and others.
He succeeded late COPE’s Murunwa Makwarela, who was backed by the ANC, EFF, AIC and other smaller parties, but was later removed from office.
This was preceded by another DA-led coalition led by Randall Williams, who ultimately resigned as a result of pressure from coalition partners.
On 19 July, ANC regional chairperson Eugene Modise announced that they wanted Brink out and revealed that the party is set to file a motion of no confidence against him and, ultimately, the executive.
The motion follows a deterioration of the state of governance, including financial management, and a litany of misrule and a staff component that is despondent,” claimed Modise.
“Since June 2023, we have witnessed the rapid deterioration of governance in political oversight, management, and the financial status of the city,” he added.
With the current coalition in Tshwane holding onto a slim majority of 3 votes, it is expected that the motion will not pass, unless parties break rank.
This has thrown a spanner in the works as the DA is the ANC’s biggest coalition partner at a national level. However, the ANC in Tshwane said that they believe the city’s no-confidence vote against Brink will not impact the GNU as they were “blessed” by their higher structures.
However after a chaotic and unfruitful council meeting on Thursday that saw speaker Mncedi Ndzwanana adjourn the meeting after EFF’s regional chair Obakeng Ramabodu escalated proceedings, shouting, “I’m craving to moer a Boer.”
The ANC motion was withdrawn later that night.
ANC’s Regional Secretary, George Matjila says, “We have withdrawn the motion, and we will obviously get into action and conclude the process with the parties. In order for us to succeed, we need to have 50 plus one, but also we need to repurpose the relationships because it’s not only about the numbers. Even when you have numbers, there should be clarity of sorts among the parties that are involved in a government of local unity,”
The prioritisation of politics made service delivery take a back seat, with debates, meetings and council hearings about the composition dominating the council agenda.
Brink said the ANC was within its rights to put forward a motion of no confidence against him but it needed to be debated in council, and all people in power should be held accountable for their actions, not just him.
“Anybody who’s been elected to public office must be held accountable and if there is a motion of no confidence that motion must be debated and the reasons for and against must be properly given – that is part of democratic accountability,” Brink said.
What concerned us about this motion of no confidence, the first one since this mayoral administration for the past 16 months, was that it seemed to be driven by business interests with links to the ANC.”
The mayor said councillors who would have voted for his removal (had it come to a vote) should be held accountable for their actions.