Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse will not face a motion of no confidence later this week. Instead, she will remain in her position at least until the next ordinary council meeting this month.
According to the DA in Gauteng, speaker Colleen Makhubele confirmed this in a response to a lawyer's letter from the party that had attempted to interdict Thursday's extraordinary council meeting.
Council was once against expected to listen to a motion of no confidence against Phalatse, a week after the Johannesburg high court overturned her initial removal by the same method.
On Sunday, lawyers representing the DA caucus wrote to Makhubele, informing her that they had been instructed to launch urgent proceedings in the South Gauteng High Court to review and set aside the programming committee meeting held on Friday which concluded to include a motion of no confidence against Phalatse.
“The application shall be premised upon the basis that the placing of the motion of no confidence in the executive mayor, Dr Mpho Phalatse, dated August 28 2022 on the agenda for the next council meeting, that was thereafter scheduled for November 3 2022, was irregular, unlawful and in direct conflict with the Standing Rules of Order of Council, specifically Rule92(1),” the letter read.
Makhubele was given a deadline of Tuesday [today] to file an answering affidavit. However, according to DA Gauteng provincial chairperson Fred Nel, the party had received a response to their lawyer's letter.
“We did receive a response from the speaker’s lawyers. They won’t continue with the motion of no confidence on Thursday. We were concerned that the programming committee was not constituted legally and that council would include the motion of no confidence against Mpho [Phalatse].
“In their response, they indicated they’re withdrawing the motion of no confidence on Thursday. Their response said it was due to an Mpac [municipal public accounts committee] report,” Nel said.
Just last week, judge Raylene Keightley found the special council meeting where Phalatse was removed by 139 votes was “unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid”.
“The decision of the first respondent [Makhubele] referred to in paragraph 2 is reviewed and set aside,” Keightley wrote.
“The decision of the programming committee of the sixth respondent [council] taken on September 29 2022 to place a motion of no confidence in the first applicant [Phalatse] as the executive mayor of the City of Johannesburg on the agenda for the extraordinary meeting on 30 September 2022 is declared unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid.”
AIC councillor Margaret Arnolds, who is the sponsor of the motion against Phalatse, confirmed to Sowetan she would withdraw the item.
“The DA is trying to run council via the courts. I don’t know why they don’t threaten the people of the motion but we’ve gone through legal advice and as I told you, there’s a programming meeting that’s about to sit tomorrow morning. At that meeting the speaker will rescind the motion but I still need to get up in council and withdraw the motion and that is something that will be dealt with on Thursday.
“I will withdraw the motion but it doesn’t mean it’s the end of the motion. As I said, we’ve got the motion. They’re trying to run this council by courts,” Arnolds said.
During the September 30 council meeting, 139 councillors voted in favour of the motion of no confidence against Phalatse.
Johannesburg council has 270 seats but during the sitting, ActionSA, a DA coalition partner, was not present. The PA defected to the ANC and voted to support the motion against Phalatse.
Arnolds was confident that if re-submitted, the motion to oust Phalatse would succeed. “We've got 140 seats which includes the ANC, EFF, the PA and all the minority parties,” Arnolds said.
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