The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Tshwane say the Democratic Alliance (DA) has no intention of supporting an ActionSA candidate to take over as chairperson of the metro council.
ActionSA’s Kholofelo Morodi, who was endorsed by his multi-party coalition partner, lost to African Transformation Movement (ATM) member Mncedi Ndzwanana.
Morodi got 37 votes, while Ndzwanana defeated ActionSA members with 105 votes.
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The voting process, which was conducted through secret ballots, resulted in DA ballots being ignored by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
The IEC canceled 69 votes after DA councilors marked their votes with the allocated number, instead of the usual “X”.
This means that Morodi will win by 106 votes if the disqualified votes are counted.
‘Very toxic and violent’
In response to the results, the EFF accused the DA of following its own electoral rules, which were not in line with IEC electoral guidelines.
The Red Berets said that the DA instructing councilors to choose to use numbers for identification purposes is inconsistent with the rules in the 2021 Election Observer Handbook.
“As a result, the DA protested the results of the election because it was a complete failure. The concept of democracy has become difficult for the DA to grasp. In glorifying constitutionalism and upholding the rule of law, it seems that this principle is not applied to the council members themselves.
“Members of the multiparty council have become victims in the saga of secret voting through polygraph tests and voter identification numbers as seen recently. The level of distrust in the DA has reached a disproportionate level,” the party said in a statement.
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“How can a multiparty govern the city effectively? The treatment of the coalition partners has become very toxic and harsh. Democracy in the DA is nothing but a dream that has vanished.
“The party may change its name to ‘Autocratic Alliance’. The level of self-righteousness in the DA is relatively close to a case of mental disorder, because they think everything in the city is about them.
The EFF said the DA had no intention of supporting Morodi “because his candidate did not get the mayor’s post”.
“In a false sense of entitlement, they do not support candidates for contested positions,” the party said. ActionSA and other coalition partners must peacefully accept that they are subordinate to the DA and that no one will change their position.
New major
Meanwhile, the Ndzwanana election will pave the way for the town to elect a new mayor following the resignation of Congress of the People (Cope) member Dr Murunwa Makwarela.
Makwarela resigned as mayor and PR councilor last Friday after submitting a fake rehabilitation certificate due to bankruptcy.
The city still has to pass an adjustment budget.
The National Treasury has given metropolitan municipalities until March 31 to pass their budgets to avoid going into administration, according to City of Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba.
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