No confidence sitting in Trollip collapses again
A Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality council meeting to debate a motion of no confidence in Mayor Athol Trollip has been postponed indefinitely.
It is the second in two weeks to collapse.
The sitting was scheduled to debate the motion, which was brought by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
The EFF also wants to remove the speaker, Johanthan Lawack.
The African National Congress' (ANC) Andile Lungisa briefed the council following a decision by the Democratic Alliance (DA) to leave the chambers.
"We have a speaker who does not have patience, a speaker who is guided by the mayor, a speaker who is guided by the DA. Even the decision by the speaker to adjourn this council, he did not discuss this with the party chief whips. It is the agenda of the DA to deadlock this meeting, they did this even in the last council meeting which was postponed for 14 days," said Lungisa.
Lungisa said they would prefer the mayor to be removed through a motion of no confidence, rather that through the courts.
Trollip told the media that those responsible for the chaos must take responsibility for their actions.
"I want to appeal to the media to tell the story as it is, was it the speaker who wanted to collapse the council, or was it political parties? Please report it as it is. There was a clear strategy, one hand went up after another to make sure the council descended into chaos."
He said the DA was ready to defeat the motion. .
"Ladies and gentleman, we are all ready for this debate. We were ready for the debate the last time we met, we were ready today but we will not be held ransom by people who cannot respect democratic outcomes. The outcomes are that we have a coalition government in this city and this government has work to do and we are going back to work. We are not going to be held to ransom in that council chamber by people who don't have the courage for their convictions or the support for their chaotic, disrespectful and unacceptable behaviour."
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