As Mpho Phalatse possibly faces the axe, the heads of several City of Johannesburg councillors who supported the ousting of the speaker are also on the chopping block.
On Monday, United Cultural Movement councillor Kevin Reddy was issued with a suspension letter while attending a media briefing addressed by minority parties in council.
Reddy was one of several councillors belonging to the coalition that supported the motion against former council speaker Vasco da Gama last week. Da Gama lost by four votes after 136 councillors voted in favour of the motion as opposed to 132 who voted against it. Two councillors were absent.
Sowetan understands that the ACDP Gauteng leaders have recommended two of their councillors who supported the motion be suspended from the party.
Two of the ACDP’s three councillors, Absalom Sithole and Sam Dyers voted in favour of last week’s motion. However, ACDP provincial leader Bishop Dalton Adams would not be drawn into whether the two councillors were suspended.
“Our provincial executive committee met on Friday night and made recommendations to our national executive committee that is sitting tonight [Monday],” Adams said.
Joburg is governed through a multi-party coalition led by the DA, ActionSA, COPE, FF+, IFP, PA, ACDP, UIM and ATM.
However, during Wednesday’s meeting, which ran into the early hours of Thursday morning, four of its members turned on them.
An insider in the coalition described the mood as tense among coalition partners, saying there was a trust deficit.
The coalition partners will be keeping a close eye on each other as the minority bloc consisting of Al-Jama-ah, GOOD, PAC, AIC, African Heart Congress, APC and the UDM have indicated they would submit a motion of no confidence against Phalatse.
The ANC is expected to support the motion.
An insider in the coalition said: “At this stage the trust levels are very low. No party is happy in the coalition except the DA and VF+, not even ActionSA is happy.”
During a media briefing convened by chair of chairs Colleen Makhubele said there was very little holding the coalition together, adding the “protection of white supremacy prevails, small parties are told what to”.
Makhubele threatened her coalition partners that should the ANC present a sound coalition plan to service the residents of the municipality, COPE would support it.
“The ANC is not going to come through the back door but come through the front door the same way the DA and ActionSA did. If the attitude of the DA doesn't change and the ANC puts a coalition on the table that meets the needs of our people, make no mistake we’ll not hesitate to cross,” she said.
However, COPE secretary for communications Dennis Bloem said Makhubele was not mandated to speak to the media.
“Everything she’s doing now is not a mandate of the party. She’s doing that out of her own.
“We’re sitting and discussing her behaviour as a party and will in due course make the findings public.
“We’re firmly inside the coalition and we’ve not rejected or resigned from the coalition. That’s why we’re saying she acted outside of the mandate of the party,” Bloem said.
Meanwhile, in a statement, Phalatse described the calls for the axing of the mayor as a “desperate and co-ordinated attempt to grab power” in the city, without any regard for residents and their service delivery needs.
“Despite these political games being played, I can guarantee residents that we are not distracted nor will service delivery be affected. The repair and rebuild of Johannesburg is a serious responsibility and action, which we will not allow to be stalled by a sordid campaign to capture the City.
“Over the coming days and weeks, there will be attempts to paint a picture of instability in the City of Johannesburg, this disinformation will be peddled by political parties and other interested people and organisations whose lines of corruption have been severed by the Johannesburg multi-party government,” Phalatse said.
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