Pretoria - The Physical removal of MMCs from office and intimidation of municipal officials by EFF councillors at Tshwane House on Thursday has been slammed by ActionSA and the DA.
Both parties described the acts as an attempt to subvert democracy in the metro. On Thursday, EFF councillors stormed into Tshwane House to demand the removal of MMCs and political staff from office after mayor Randall Williams tendered his resignation on Monday.
The EFF said its action was justified by the Municipal Structures Act, which stipulated that in the event the mayor has resigned, his mayoral committee must be dissolved.
ActionSA’s caucus leader Anniruth Kissoonduth said his party strongly condemned the actions by EFF councillors, who stormed the City’s council buildings and intimidated municipal officials and other councillors.
The EFF stormed Tshwane mayor Randall Williams’s office, demanding that all members of the mayoral committee and political staff must vacate the offices. The EFF are trying to prevent VIP drivers from transporting MMCs with municipal vehicles. @EFFSouthAfrica @CityTshwane pic.twitter.com/uKziVzNsTP
“Their actions are a sad attempt to subvert democracy at a time when processes are under way to replace outgoing mayor Randall Williams,” he said.
Williams’s resignation attracted controversy after he submitted two letters of resignation to council speaker Dr Murunwa Makwarela, indicating two different dates for his last day in office.
The first letter of resignation stated that he would go with immediate effect, while the second one altered the date to February 28. Makwarela said he accepted the amended resignation after he sought legal advice.
The EFF, however, refused to accept Makwarela’s explanation and embarked on the protest aiming to force the mayoral committee out of office in keeping with the mayor’s immediate resignation.
EFF regional leader Obakeng Ramabodu, who led his party’s protest at Tshwane House, insisted that the first letter was valid, saying Williams’s mayoral committee had been dissolved in line with the Municipal Structures Act and that their stay in office was illegal.
Amid the heightened tension at Tshwane House this week, EFF councillors clashed with two MMCs, Kingsley Wakelin for corporate and shared services, and community safety’s Grandi Theunissen, who were frog-marched in full view of the metro police.
“This is not an AfriForum. This is the City of Tshwane,” one of the protesters yelled at Wakelin as he was manhandled.
Pretoria News