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Irate Councillors Disrupt Johannesburg Council Proceedings

A little drama played out in the Johannesburg City Council on Wednesday morning, June 22, when opposition council members disrupted proceedings.

The aggrieved were demanding that Economic Development MMC Nkululeko Mbundo be suspended. They also expressed unhappiness with house speaker Vasco Da Gama, who they accused of taking away the decorum from the council.

The protestors say they are not confident in the speaker and how he conducts the council. His actions have left the councils “frustrated,” they said.

They also clarified their action was not o frustrate the speaker. Instead, they accused the speaker of provoking their eruptions and the disruption of proceedings by being insensitive to the aggrieved councillors.

The aggrieved councillors have presented a motion that they want to be debated. Win or lose, they want the motion debated, and the speaker should not try to frustrate them.

The motion, backed by the EFF, ANC and minority parties, demands that the elections of the chair of chairs, as well Section79 committees, be held via a secret ballot.

The opposition notwithstanding, Speaker Vasco Da Gama, who had decided last Thursday that there would be no secret ballot, stuck to his guns about continuing with an open ballot. Who would buckle in the end?

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