Mayor Trollip could be ousted earlier than expected

IN FIRING LINE: Athol Trollip

IN FIRING LINE: Athol Trollip

Published Mar 18, 2018

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Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip and other DA leaders are set to be removed from their positions earlier than thought, if the EFF and other opposition parties have their way.

The EFF has fast-forwarded its motion of no confidence against Trollip from April 4 to March 29.

Opposition parties have ganged up against the DA in the metro, backing one another in pushing for the removal of all DA councillors in the metro.

The African Independent Congress (AIC) is pushing for a motion of no confidence against council speaker Jonathan Lawack.

AIC councillor Tshonono Buyeye, who moved the motion, backed by the EFF’s Zilindile Vena, accused Lawack of being biased, adding that the majority of the councillors had lost confidence in him.

“The speaker failed in his statutory and fiduciary duties by not enforcing council’s rules of orders fairly and consistently during council meetings, there-

by showing bias towards opposition councillors to the benefit of one political party, the Democratic Alliance,” the motion’s notice states.

The Patriotic Alliance has also tabled a motion to remove all chairpersons and members of the committees in the metro’s council, accusing them of failing to make progress and reasonable changes in the delivery of services in poor areas in the metro.

United Democratic Movement caucus leader and ousted deputy mayor Mongameli Bobani has filed a motion for the removal of chief whip Werner Senekal, backed by the ANC’s Bicks Ndoni, also a former deputy mayor in the previous ANC-led administration.

The United Front has moved for the reinstatement of the office of the deputy executive mayor, which was dissolved in November after Bobani was fired.

Julius Malema’s party is pushing for former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas to replace Trollip.

The ANC has, however rejected the EFF’s instruction, that it must forward Jonas’s name as a mayoral candidate if it wanted its support.

ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule said the governing party had its own processes when it came to deploying its members.

“The ANC must determine its own approach. We are not going to be told by any outside party how we must deal with our issues. They can’t be telling us who must be our candidates. I’m sure the ANC will engage everybody, but the ANC has its own position,” Magashule said on Wednesday.

The EFF’s motion came after the DA refused to back its parliamentary motion calling for the expropriation of land without compensation.

Following the 2016 local government elections, the DA dislodged the ANC from three key metros - Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay - thanks to the backing of the EFF.

Malema said the decision to try to oust Trollip was to punish and teach the official opposition a lesson, as Trollip was white and a national leader of the DA, unlike other mayors in the metros.

Trollip is a farmer and the DA federal council chairperson.

The Star

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