DA councillors were determined to disrupt a council meeting before bouncers were called in to haul them out.
Democratic Alliance (DA) councillors were allegedly forcefully removed from a City of Tshwane council meeting after posing “challenging questions” during the session.
The altercation occurred just a day after City of Tshwane Executive Mayor Nasiphi Moya presented her administration’s plans to address the city’s financial crisis.
Moya said that the city is in a dire financial state, with a total debt of R11 billion, of which R6 billion is owed to Eskom.
Watch a crucial Tshwane Council meeting turn violent
Chaos
On Thursday, a crucial council meeting turned violent as two DA councillors, accused of causing chaos, were forcibly removed from the council chambers by private security.
During the incident, some councillors shouted, heckled, and called out, while others filmed the ordeal in the council chambers.
Ousted former DA Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink claimed that the ANC-ActionSA-EFF coalition in Tshwane “assaulted democracy by using force to silence opposition councillors”.
“Unable to win debates in council, this coalition turned to intimidation, weaponising municipal resources to suppress the opposition.
“When DA councillors raised challenging questions, they were met not with answers, but with Deputy Mayor Modise’s demands for their removal. The speaker dutifully obliged. Bouncers were brought in to forcibly and illegally remove DA Councillors Moloto and Makgaleng,” Brink said.
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‘Troubling trend’
Brink said the incident is part of a “troubling trend.”
“The Speaker has repeatedly failed to protect councillors from documented African National Congress (ANC) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) assaults, and now actively targets his opponents. The DA will open cases against the Speaker and those involved in this assault on democracy. We remain resolute in fighting for the people of Tshwane.”
Ald Cilliers Brink on the chaos in Tshwane Council on 31 October 2024 pic.twitter.com/8gefpHSwp5
— Leanne J de Jager (@DAljdj) October 31, 2024
Disruptions
Moya criticised the conduct of some DA councillors and suggested “some had planned to be disruptive from the start of the meeting,” according to The Daily Maverick.
“The meeting started constructively and all political parties were engaged. However, there was a determination on the part of the DA, and some of its leaders, to be disruptive from the beginning of the meeting. The disruptions from the DA caucus continued even when I was tabling reports,” Moya said.
“The Speaker of Council warned the DA councillors about their disruptive behaviour, but the same councillors continued,” she said.
🔴ICYMI🔴 Chaos erupted yesterday at the Tshwane Council after the EFF called for the reinstatement of 130 workers who were dismissed by the City of Tshwane, led by the Democratic Alliance. The DA, however, stubbornly refuses to reinstate the workers. The workers had participated… pic.twitter.com/2NmIM4fNCj
— Central News (@centralnewsza) September 1, 2023
Not the first time
This is not the first instance of violence in the council, as previous disruptions have led to the adjournment of meetings without any progress.
In July, chaos resulted in the adjournment of a council meeting without any progress being made.
The Tshwane council convened a sitting in the morning on 25 July, but experienced disruptions throughout the entire session until it was adjourned around 3pm.
The meeting descended into chaos as members from the African National Congress (ANC) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) demanded an apology from then-Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink over his utterances.
Brink and his party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), had criticised the ANC Tshwane’s move to file a motion of no confidence against the mayor.
“The motion of no confidence is aimed at taking us back to the days of looting, of internal mismanagement and no consequences.
“Whereas this multi-party coalition government is building a capital city that can work for all of its people,” he said in a video posted on social media.
The EFF demanded an apology before the meeting could proceed.
ALSO READ: ‘I want the blood of an Afrikaner’: Chaos at Tshwane council as mayor refuses to apologise
Additional reporting by Molefe Seeletsa
