By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Tshwane has failed to reverse the resignation of its councillor after it was declared final by the city manager.
DA member Francois Bekker tendered his resignation to Tshwane city manager Johann Mettler on Tuesday, but later sent another letter rescinding his initial decision.
This is after the DA disputed Bekker’s resignation, saying he remained a councillor in Tshwane.
I refer to this correspondence and confirm that I am the person authorised by the Democratic Alliance to process resignations. I have not done so in this instance.
“The situation in respect of [councillor] Francois Bekker remains the same. I will inform you if the situation changes. In the meantime, I have not processed any resignation,” DA whip of council Christo van den Heever stated in a letter to Mettler.
Mettler decided to ignore a letter the DA wrote, which alerted him to Bekker still serving as a councillor.
On Thursday, the city manager wrote to the Gauteng Electoral Commission of South Africa notifying it of the vacancy.
The latest decision means the DA and its coalition partners – ActionSA, the ACDP, FF Plus and IFP – have one less seat in the Tshwane council.
ANC councillor Aaron Maluleka said the DA pushed to have his resignation reversed because it would have impacted the multiparty coalition numbers in the council ahead of the motion of no confidence vote against council speaker Mncedi Ndzwanana, which has been scheduled for 12 April.
“We take a dim view of legislative abuses wherein councillors can tender their resignation and then later cause for their unsubstantiated retraction as if council is a playground of indecisiveness.
“This I wish to posit is a practice that shouldn’t be condoned as it is likely to plunge council into disrepute and further cartoon its standing,” he added.
The council must also to pass the adjustment budget to avoid the metro being placed under administration by the provincial government.