Pretoria - Defenders of the People, a political party with one councillor in the City of Tshwane, has been ushered into the multiparty coalition government of the DA, Freedom Front Plus, ActionSA and IFP.
This comes after the coalition partners had a fall-out with the Congress of the People (Cope), which broke ranks when it fielded former party councillor Dr Murunwa Makwarela to contest for the mayoral position against Cilliers Brink.
At the time, Makwarela won by 112 votes against Brink’s 101. Makwarela was subsequently removed from the position after it emerged that he failed to disclose his insolvency status; he was roundly criticised for misleading the public by accepting nominations first as speaker of the council and later as Tshwane mayor.
Brink eventually ascended to the mayor’s office after another contest against a Cope councillor, Thabang Sefanyetso.
The exclusion of Cope from the multiparty bloc has since placed it in a precarious position, especially after some ActionSA councillors were accused of voting for Makwarela.
The addition of Defenders of the People to the coalition was approved during last week’s meeting of the multiparty coalition partners.
In a media statement, the multiparty partners said the single councillor from Defenders of the People, Makgabo Kobo, “will add to the tenuous numbers of the multiparty coalition and bring greater stability”.
Kobo replaced former Defenders of the People councillor Sipho Mokone, who made headlines this year when it was alleged that he attempted to bribe former ActionSA chief whip Kgosietsile Kgosiemang with R2 million in exchange for his vote for Makwarela as mayor.
Mokone has since dismissed the allegations as untrue and threatened to take legal action against Kgosiemang, who pressed criminal charges related to bribery allegations at Olievenhoutbosch police station.
The multiparty coalition said: “The majority of the meeting considered the labour unrest that has arisen in the City of Tshwane.
“The coalition commended the considerable work by the City’s leadership to provide temporary service delivery measures during periods of disruption.”
The resolution taken, they said, was to guide the City of Tshwane leadership in its meetings with organised labour with a view to finding solutions to the impasse that has developed.
“The meeting was framed by positive discussions about the pressing challenges in the City of Tshwane and concluded with confidence that the City’s leadership was working in the interests of all residents to ensure stability of service delivery in all communities,” said the coalition partners.
Pretoria News