Cape Town Council abandons water tax, suspends top official
City of Cape Town council members have suspended a senior transport head and scrapped the controversial proposal for a drought levy.
The suspension of a senior municipal official, a walk-out, and the scrapping of a drought levy are some of the events that took place at the much-anticipated Cape Town Council meeting.
Transport head, Melissa Whitehead, has been suspended as a result of tender irregularities.
Correspondent, Roi Simpson, says a formal disciplinary inquiry against Whitehead has been logged.
"This suggests that they accept the report that says Whitehead ran corrupt tenders which could be bad news for Mayor Patricia de Lille, who's accused of covering up that corruption."
The African National Congress (ANC) also walked out while De Lille addressed council.
"They returned in time to hear that the city has abandoned the idea of a drought levy. Mayoral Committee (Mayco) member for Finance Johan van der Merwe says it the scale of public comment that led to the change in heart."