Chaos erupts in Johannesburg Council with uncertainty on Speaker Vasco Da Gama position

Day two of the City of Johannesburg Council meeting commenced on 5 December, when a motion of no confidence was tabled by political party Al Jamah against Speaker of Council Vasco da Gama.

Al-Jamah councillor, Thapelo Ahmad, said that they have brought the motion to council because the speaker has failed to manage the relationship between political parties and also failed to safeguard the independence of the council.

The ANC supported the motion against the speaker, while the DA opposed it. The EFF decided not to participate in the vote against the speaker’s removal while the IFP, AIC and PA supported the motion.

The results in the motion against the speaker were 135 for his removal, 99 against and 30 abstentions.

The DA then raised their concern with the ’50 per cent plus one rule’. The DA’s  Chair of Chairs, Alex Christians, explained that at the council today (5 December) only 264 were councillors present. This would mean there would need to be 133 votes in favour of the motion in order for it to pass.

However, Christians asked for 10 minutes while he consulted with the legal team on the issue of ‘majority’.  He said that the rule book states that the ’50 per cent plus one’ rule requires all 270 members of the council to participate. This, therefore, means that the ’50 per cent plus one’ rule would require 136 votes in order to pass a motion.

Chaos erupted when Da Gama ruled against the motion. ANC councillors left their seats in anger while DA councillors left the chamber in the midst of chaos.

The ANC said they no longer recognise him as the Speaker of Council.

Da Gama said the meeting was adjourned.

This publication journalist Lungile Dube is tweeting live at Council, follow her tweets here.

Related articles:

ANC reclaims Joburg, Geoff Makhubo is the new Joburg mayor

Michael Sun’s term as MMC ends as Geoff Makhubo elected new Joburg mayor