Andile Fani, Buffalo City Metro’s municipal manager, has won the fifth round in his battle to avoid suspension by mayor Zukiswa Ncitha.
Yesterday, despite Friday’s council failure to find a quorum and push through her recommendation to fire Fani, Ncitha was at it again.
A full ordinary council meeting was pencilled in on the BCM calendar to be held yesterday.
But three messengers were sent out on Sunday to inform 100 councillors their 3000-page bundle of documents would only be discussed on Friday.
Instead, Ncitha and her speaker, Luleka Simon-Ndzele, replaced the meeting with an agenda simply to deal with the Fani report.
This was the fifth council meeting dedicated to this task since April 29.
DA councillor Sue Bentley said each sitting cost R65000 just for the venue and food, giving a conservative estimate of R325000 of ratepayers’ money spent on the fight.
Opposition councillors arrived at the yesterday’s poorly advertised meeting in a rage over the waste of time and resources.
As he went into the Border Conference Centre in Abbotsford, COPE’s Khayalethu Twalingca called it a circus.
But when he burst out a short while later he said: “This is a plot (against Fani)”, and left soon after.
The sitting started with Simon-Ndzele, a co-accused with the mayor in the Mandela memorial fraud trial, going straight to a head count to establish a quorum.
She needed 51 of 100 and came up with 73, meaning the meeting was on.
But that quorum looked dodgy when the opposition DA came pouring out a short while later. After a caucus they went back in.
Media and officials, among them top-earners such as chief financial officer Vincent Pillay, were ordered out and many lounged about in the sun on blue plastic chairs in the parking lot chatting. One took pictures of the Dispatch photographing the officials.
The meeting ended after two hours but when asked for her comment, the mayor said: “Not on pink! Not on pink!”
Councillors from all parties confirmed the Fani report was withdrawn by the mayor at the start of the sitting.
The Dispatch was not able to establish the reasons for its withdrawal.
However, opposition councillors were angry with the ANC for passing a resolution to pay for Ncitha’s legal costs in her court bid to prevent the Hawks from investigating the council decision to suspend and sack Fani.
Fani is a vital witness in the Mandela memorial fraud trial.
ANC chief whip Sangweni Matwele kept on walking when the Dispatch asked him for his comment, but opposition councillors Luke Monwabisi Quse of the ACDP, Jerome Mdyolo of the PAC and Terence Fritz from the DA said they withdrew from voting for or against BCM paying for the mayor’s lawyers.
They said it was likely the Fani report would disappear from council proceedings, although this was not guaranteed.
Asked for comment when he exited the fifth round still holding onto his job, Fani would only say: “I am exhausted.”
Video: Fani wins the fifth round
Yesterday, despite Friday’s council failure to find a quorum and push through her recommendation to fire Fani, Ncitha was at it again.
A full ordinary council meeting was pencilled in on the BCM calendar to be held yesterday.
But three messengers were sent out on Sunday to inform 100 councillors their 3000-page bundle of documents would only be discussed on Friday.
Instead, Ncitha and her speaker, Luleka Simon-Ndzele, replaced the meeting with an agenda simply to deal with the Fani report.
This was the fifth council meeting dedicated to this task since April 29.
DA councillor Sue Bentley said each sitting cost R65000 just for the venue and food, giving a conservative estimate of R325000 of ratepayers’ money spent on the fight.
Opposition councillors arrived at the yesterday’s poorly advertised meeting in a rage over the waste of time and resources.
As he went into the Border Conference Centre in Abbotsford, COPE’s Khayalethu Twalingca called it a circus.
But when he burst out a short while later he said: “This is a plot (against Fani)”, and left soon after.
The sitting started with Simon-Ndzele, a co-accused with the mayor in the Mandela memorial fraud trial, going straight to a head count to establish a quorum.
She needed 51 of 100 and came up with 73, meaning the meeting was on.
But that quorum looked dodgy when the opposition DA came pouring out a short while later. After a caucus they went back in.
Media and officials, among them top-earners such as chief financial officer Vincent Pillay, were ordered out and many lounged about in the sun on blue plastic chairs in the parking lot chatting. One took pictures of the Dispatch photographing the officials.
The meeting ended after two hours but when asked for her comment, the mayor said: “Not on pink! Not on pink!”
Councillors from all parties confirmed the Fani report was withdrawn by the mayor at the start of the sitting.
The Dispatch was not able to establish the reasons for its withdrawal.
However, opposition councillors were angry with the ANC for passing a resolution to pay for Ncitha’s legal costs in her court bid to prevent the Hawks from investigating the council decision to suspend and sack Fani.
Fani is a vital witness in the Mandela memorial fraud trial.
ANC chief whip Sangweni Matwele kept on walking when the Dispatch asked him for his comment, but opposition councillors Luke Monwabisi Quse of the ACDP, Jerome Mdyolo of the PAC and Terence Fritz from the DA said they withdrew from voting for or against BCM paying for the mayor’s lawyers.
They said it was likely the Fani report would disappear from council proceedings, although this was not guaranteed.
Asked for comment when he exited the fifth round still holding onto his job, Fani would only say: “I am exhausted.”
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