<\/p>\n
The Speaker of the Tshwane city council, Mncedi Ndzwanana, will answer for himself in court over the chaotic council meeting on 9 July during which city manager Johann Mettler was suspended.<\/p>\n
At the same meeting, the council also paved the way for the return to work of its chief financial officer, Gareth Mnisi, whose conduct came under scrutiny following testimony before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System.<\/p>\n
At the time of the council meeting, Mnisi was on cautionary suspension pending a forensic investigation into his conduct.<\/p>\n
Read: Tshwane slaps CFO Mnisi on wrist before DA court challenge<\/p>\n
He was later issued with only a final written warning, which expires after six months, despite the forensic investigation finding that he had, over a period of two years, failed to declare his directorships in several companies and his relationship with firms doing business with the metro.<\/p>\n
This followed the council\u2019s decision at the disputed meeting that the transgressions amounted to less serious misconduct, resulting in Mnisi being subjected to an informal disciplinary process.<\/p>\n
However, Ndzwanana swung the outcome of the votes on both matters by deducting 13 votes from those opposing Mettler\u2019s suspension and the lenient treatment of Mnisi.<\/p>\n
Decisions to be set aside?<\/p>\n
Urgent applications by the trade union Solidarity and the Democratic Alliance (DA) to have those decisions set aside will be heard in the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday (28 July).<\/p>\n
Tshwane Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya, one of the respondents in the matter, told the court in affidavits seen by Moneyweb that she will not oppose the applications.<\/p>\n
She will abide by the court\u2019s ruling and says Ndzwanana must explain and defend his own decisions.<\/p>\n
Should the applications succeed, the court is expected to grant interim relief by temporarily setting the decisions aside before hearing the matter in full at a later stage to determine whether the interim orders should be made final.<\/p>\n
Moya, an ActionSA member, reserves the right to oppose the matter at that stage should any of the parties directly challenge her conduct.<\/p>\n
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She says every step she took regarding Mettler\u2019s suspension was in accordance with municipal legislation and regulations, and that she does not have the authority to disregard a council resolution or substitute it with her own decision.<\/p>\n
ActionSA, which governs Tshwane in coalition with the ANC, EFF and African Transformation Movement (ATM), sided with the DA, Freedom Front Plus (FF+) and the Republican Conference of Tshwane during the meeting in an attempt to keep Mettler in office and ensure that Mnisi faced a formal disciplinary process.<\/p>\n
Chaotic meeting<\/p>\n
The extent of the chaos that unfolded during the meeting is detailed in an affidavit by Cilliers Brink, the DA\u2019s former mayor of Tshwane and once again the party\u2019s mayoral candidate for the municipal elections scheduled for 4 November.<\/p>\n
According to Brink, it was a special council meeting to which councillors received only two days\u2019 notice, contrary to the rules that generally require at least 72 hours\u2019 notice.<\/p>\n
The reason for the meeting was not disclosed in advance and enquiries about its purpose went unanswered.<\/p>\n
As a result, councillors were unable to prepare for it, Brink says.<\/p>\n
When the meeting commenced at 10am on 9 July, neither the agenda nor the reports to be considered had been made available. The DA formally objected to this state of affairs. The speaker confirmed that he had not yet received anything from the mayor either.<\/p>\n
Half an hour later, Ndzwanana granted the ANC\u2019s request for a one-hour caucus, apparently to delay proceedings until the agenda and reports could be circulated.<\/p>\n
The agenda and two reports \u2013 one dealing with Mettler and the other with Mnisi \u2013 were emailed to councillors only shortly after 11:00, and the meeting resumed at around 11:30.<\/p>\n
Read:
Tshwane CFO in Madlanga Commission crosshairs
Tshwane CFO Gareth Mnisi suspended
Knives are out for Tshwane city manager<\/p>\n
The DA then requested a 90-minute caucus to study the reports, whereupon the speaker ruled that the meeting would reconvene after lunch at 14:30.<\/p>\n
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Council reconvened accordingly, only for the FF+ to requested a further one-hour caucus, which was also granted.<\/p>\n
The meeting eventually resumed at 15:30.<\/p>\n
By that stage, nine DA 13 councillors and one FF+ councillor had withdrawn their previously-submitted apologies for the meeting and arrived for the remainder of the proceedings.<\/p>\n
The speaker ruled that they were not permitted to participate.<\/p>\n
They nevertheless voted on both matters before the council. Brink maintains that, under those circumstances, Ndzwanana was obliged to accept their votes.<\/p>\n
Vote outcome<\/p>\n
The vote was conducted by a show of hands, with a majority voting against Mettler\u2019s suspension and in favour of classifying Mnisi\u2019s conduct as serious misconduct, which would have triggered a formal disciplinary process that could have resulted in his dismissal.<\/p>\n
After the vote, Ndzwanana \u2013 acting on a proposal by the EFF \u2013 decided to deduct 13 votes from those majorities to account for the 13 councillors who had earlier been granted leave.<\/p>\n
This despite 10 of those councillors actually being present and having cast their votes.<\/p>\n
As a result, the ANC\/EFF grouping secured the majority, paving the way for Mettler\u2019s suspension and the lenient disciplinary outcome for Mnisi.<\/p>\n
The DA and Solidarity argue that Ndzwanana \u2013 an African Transformation Movement member \u2013 unlawfully manipulated the outcome of the votes, and Moya has now left it to him, her coalition partner, to explain his conduct in court.<\/p>\n
Moneyweb understands that Ndzwanana is opposing the applications brought by Solidarity and the DA, but has not yet been able to obtain access to his affidavits filed with the court.<\/p>\n
#Tshwane #mayor #leaves #speaker #defend #controversial #council #meeting #court<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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