Durban — A letter from the Office of the Speaker in the eThekwini Municipality has revealed that the DA’s motion to dissolve the eThekwini council would be considered next month.
The DA had submitted a motion to dissolve the council in terms of Section 18 (1) of the Rules of Order and Section 34 (1) of the Municipal Structures Act.
Section 34 (1) Dissolution of Municipal Councils provides that (1) A municipal council may dissolve itself at a meeting called specifically for this purpose, by adopting a resolution dissolving the council with a supporting vote of at least two-thirds majority.
In the letter dated December 8, eThekwini speaker Thabani Nyawose said the letter serves to confirm receipt of the DA’s notice of motion submitted for the December 2023 council meeting.
It said that at the Special Speaker and Party Whips meeting held on November 27, 2023, it was resolved that consideration of all Section 27 questions and notices of motion(s) be deferred to the meeting of January 2024.
“This serves to confirm this arrangement, that your notice of motion will be considered in January 2024,” the letter read.
Reacting to the letter, DA eThekwini caucus chief whip Yogis Govender said that the tabling of the DA’s motion to dissolve the eThekwini council got the green light.
Govender said the party in eThekwini welcomes the confirmation by Nyawose of having received the DA’s motion to initiate the process of dissolving the council tabled at the next council meeting in January 2024.
“The DA has brought this motion as an urgent push towards saving the collapsing city. The supply of water, electricity, and sanitation services has reached a stage of total dysfunctionality. In many parts of the city refuse management has completely collapsed while millions are paid to supposedly keep our streets clean,” Govender said.
She said the DA and its councillors across the municipality have fought endlessly on behalf of residents “to try to rescue our collapsing city, but our cries have fallen on deaf ears”.
“The DA eThekwini caucus appreciates that all opposition parties are needed to support the motion for it to succeed. In recognition of this, the DA eThekwini leadership has met with most opposition parties and remains optimistic about the success of our much-needed motion,” Govender said.
“Once the motion is debated by the eThekwini council and passed by a two-thirds majority, new by-elections must be held across the eThekwini Municipality, allowing residents to vote for a new stable and efficient local government in our city.”
The City Council marked two years on November 1 this year which qualifies the DA’s motion.
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