City of Johannesburg speaker Vasco da Gama will face his first no-confidence motion on Tuesday, five months after being elected.
The motion was submitted by Al-Jama-Ah councillor Thapelo Amad and seconded by fellow party member councillor Kabelo Gwamanda.
Listed as the top four reasons for wanting his dismissal, Da Gama is alleged to be biased in council, allows DA members to sit in restricted areas in chambers, censors councillors from opposition parties by muting their microphones and also runs council like a military state by deploying Johannesburg metro police in the council precinct.
Da Gama was previously ousted as speaker in 2019 via a motion of no confidence and replaced by the ANC's Nonceba Molwele with the help of two rogue DA councillors.
Hoping history repeats itself, Amad wrote that Da Gama had failed to safeguard council's independence.
“After 2021 local [government] elections, the DA-led administration went against the motion by re-electing the same personnel in the speaker’s seat, thus, making citizens suffer the same fate of partiality, inaccessibility of council to the public and continued built mistrust between councillors which renders council business dysfunctional,” he said in the motion.
Speaking to Sowetan on Monday, Amad accused Da Gama of allowing DA leaders in chambers.
With only three seats in council, Al-Jama-Ah will have to do some heavy lifting for the motion to be successful.
The DA-led multiparty coalition government has a total of 140 of 270 seats in council.
This means, Al-Jama-Ah needs the ANC's 91 seats, support from the EFF's 29 councillors, both votes from the AIC, including GOOD, PAC, APC and AHC's individual seats for any chance of success.
Combined, the opposition has a total of 130 seats in chambers, meaning they would need an additional six votes which can only come from the inside the multiparty coalition.
Da Gama's acting spokesperson Virgil James said the speaker would deal with the motion tomorrow.
“It is common for a speaker to face such motions as and when they arise but they must be dealt with accordingly,” James said.
ANC caucus leader Mpho Moerane confirmed the party had been approached by minority parties.
“We have agreed we will be supporting their motion. The speaker is biased. During the time the council was electing chairpersons for the section 79 committees the session was chaotic. The speaker was biased and displayed an attitude towards us,” he said.
ACDP councillor leader Absalom Sithole said there was no basis for Da Gama's removal, saying Al-Jama-Ah failed to give compelling reasons to gain its support.
The ATM’s Lubabalo Magwentshu said as part of the coalition, theirs was to present a united front.
“How can you support something when you do not know what it is based on.”
African Peoples’ Convention’s Story Machethe said they had not had any talks with any parties, adding he was against the motion.
“The speaker is a good man who treats all councillors equally. We have no problem with the speaker. We are only against the mayor who wants to retrench black people [referring to the city’s 130 employees who have been dismissed after the decision to convert them into permanent staff was reversed by council].”
EFF regional leader Sepetla Raseruthe said the party would only decide how it was voting after its caucus on Tuesday morning.
“That’s where we’re going to take a position on the motion.”
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