The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape will no longer tolerate the bullying and delaying tactics of Siyancuma’s Speaker, Johannes George. We are considering further action to compel him to act in accordance with the rules and regulations in the Siyancuma Local Municipality.
In extension of section 29(1) of the Municipal Structures Act, Rule 5 of the Standing Rules & Orders of Siyancuma compels the Speaker to convene a council meeting if requested to do so by a majority of councillors.
But George began playing the delay game in March this year after opposition councillors handed in motions of no confidence against him and the current mayor. He stubbornly refused to schedule council meetings to discuss these motions and unilaterally decided that the council would go on recess until the elections in May were over. This short-sighted decision meant that the municipal budget for the 2024/25 year was not approved in time. The Northern Cape Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements & Traditional Affairs had to intervene before a budget could be tabled.
In the meantime, George decided that signatures on the motions were forged. Without asking any of the signatories if this was indeed the case, he simply decided to call in the services of a law firm. It is anticipated that this decision will cost the municipality at least R300 000, which could much rather have been used for services. The law firm then quizzed councillors about other, unrelated matters.
Last week, the Speaker unfairly decided to have an opposition councillor removed from a council meeting. There were no grounds for this decision, which was simply taken to prevent a majority from insisting that the motions must be handled. The Speaker did not even want to call for a vote adopting the agenda until the councillor was removed.
The motions of no confidence were drafted and handed in, as provided for in the legislation on local government, because the majority of councillors do not have faith in this Speaker. We do not believe that he is capable of acting in the best interests of the residents of Siyancuma. His actions and attitude since the motions were handed in, confirms the validity of our view. We’ll escalate our concerns to the relevant structures for further action.