A High-powered delegation of senior ANC leaders will visit the embattled Buffalo City Metro, where political infighting has spilled over into council chambers.Yesterday, the BCM city council meeting called by mayor Zukiswa Ncitha to remove municipal manager Andile Fani collapsed spectacularly when up to 28 ANC councillors failed to pitch leaving the meeting without a quorum.
This was after opposition parties walked out saying they refused to be part of an illegal process, leaving only 43 councillors out of 100 inside instead of the minimum 51 required.
Later the number apparently fell even lower and the meeting morphed into an “ANC caucus”.
Fani was in Johannesburg and unavailable for comment, and Ncitha turned to Speaker Luleka Simon-Ndzele to comment. She claimed the meeting had been “adjourned” to next week, and refused to comment on the collapse of the quorum saying the meeting was “still confidential”.
Outside the hotel, about 30 Samwu workers bayed for the mayor’s resignation claiming she had brought embarrassment to the office.
The ANC delegation visiting the troubled metro tomorrow will include Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Pravin Gordhan, his counterpart in the province MEC Fikile Xasa, parliamentary chief whip Stone Sizani, Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Water Affairs Deputy Minister Pam Tshwete and national ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa.
Kodwa yesterday confirmed the Sunday visit, saying national executive committee (NEC) members would first meet all ANC branches before meeting regional leadership.
The visit comes days after the national leadership, led by president Jacob Zuma, announced a major reshuffle in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro where they removed mayor Ben Fihla. He was replaced with football administration chief Danny Jordaan, who was sworn in yesterday as a councillor. ANC activist Bicks Ndoni was also announced as Nelson Mandela Bay Metro’s new deputy mayor while former MPL Litho Suka was deployed as chief whip.
Kodwa told the Saturday Dispatch the national leadership had been following “issues” in the regional ANC and council.
Earlier this week, the delegation visited the Cacadu region where they spoke to branches and councillors at the Makana Municipality in a bid to determine challenges faced by deployees in that council.
“We will descend on BCM to basically check on the health of the organisation in that region,” said Kodwa.
“We want to give space to all branches to talk to national leadership on what they deem to be the driving force of challenges within the party and council.”
Asked if reshuffling of political leadership was imminent in the Buffalo City Metro, Kodwa said he “cannot preempt what will come out of the meeting with branches”.
“The best way is to first listen to what the branches have to say before we could talk about what action the organisation will take,” he said.
The region is set to have its elective conference in the next few weeks.
ANC regional secretary Pumlani Mkolo and ANC provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane could not be reached for comment at the time of writing yesterday.
There have been glaring divisions in the regional ANC since the local government elections of 2011. Various branches have complained that some deployees in council were not the ones they had chosen to represent them.
Recently branches marched to the provincial ANC headquarters in King William’s Town complaining about the auditing of branches and how branch general meetings had been conducted in contravention to the ANC constitution.
Earlier in the year, branches marched to the regional offices in East London demanding the removal of Mkolo whom they accused of promoting factionalism.
In council, there have been numerous reports of tension between mayor Ncitha and administration head Fani, who also serves in SACP structures.
Now it’s BCM’s turn
This was after opposition parties walked out saying they refused to be part of an illegal process, leaving only 43 councillors out of 100 inside instead of the minimum 51 required.
Later the number apparently fell even lower and the meeting morphed into an “ANC caucus”.
Fani was in Johannesburg and unavailable for comment, and Ncitha turned to Speaker Luleka Simon-Ndzele to comment. She claimed the meeting had been “adjourned” to next week, and refused to comment on the collapse of the quorum saying the meeting was “still confidential”.
Outside the hotel, about 30 Samwu workers bayed for the mayor’s resignation claiming she had brought embarrassment to the office.
The ANC delegation visiting the troubled metro tomorrow will include Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Pravin Gordhan, his counterpart in the province MEC Fikile Xasa, parliamentary chief whip Stone Sizani, Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Water Affairs Deputy Minister Pam Tshwete and national ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa.
Kodwa yesterday confirmed the Sunday visit, saying national executive committee (NEC) members would first meet all ANC branches before meeting regional leadership.
The visit comes days after the national leadership, led by president Jacob Zuma, announced a major reshuffle in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro where they removed mayor Ben Fihla. He was replaced with football administration chief Danny Jordaan, who was sworn in yesterday as a councillor. ANC activist Bicks Ndoni was also announced as Nelson Mandela Bay Metro’s new deputy mayor while former MPL Litho Suka was deployed as chief whip.
Kodwa told the Saturday Dispatch the national leadership had been following “issues” in the regional ANC and council.
Earlier this week, the delegation visited the Cacadu region where they spoke to branches and councillors at the Makana Municipality in a bid to determine challenges faced by deployees in that council.
“We will descend on BCM to basically check on the health of the organisation in that region,” said Kodwa.
“We want to give space to all branches to talk to national leadership on what they deem to be the driving force of challenges within the party and council.”
Asked if reshuffling of political leadership was imminent in the Buffalo City Metro, Kodwa said he “cannot preempt what will come out of the meeting with branches”.
“The best way is to first listen to what the branches have to say before we could talk about what action the organisation will take,” he said.
The region is set to have its elective conference in the next few weeks.
ANC regional secretary Pumlani Mkolo and ANC provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane could not be reached for comment at the time of writing yesterday.
There have been glaring divisions in the regional ANC since the local government elections of 2011. Various branches have complained that some deployees in council were not the ones they had chosen to represent them.
Recently branches marched to the provincial ANC headquarters in King William’s Town complaining about the auditing of branches and how branch general meetings had been conducted in contravention to the ANC constitution.
Earlier in the year, branches marched to the regional offices in East London demanding the removal of Mkolo whom they accused of promoting factionalism.
In council, there have been numerous reports of tension between mayor Ncitha and administration head Fani, who also serves in SACP structures.
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