While you were asleep: Tshwane Council works overtime to elect a new Speaker


By Tshegofatso Makola

Following more than half a day of proceedings, the Tshwane City Council elected the new Speaker of Council. African Transformation Movement councillor Mncedi Ndzwanana, was elected via secret ballot in a special council sitting yesterday.

ATM councillor Mncedi Ndzwanana has been elected as the new Tshwane Council Speaker following his 105 vote victory compared to his opponent, ActionSA, Kholofelo Morodi, who garnered 37 votes.

Ndzwanana’s election comes as the position became vacant when Dr. Murunwa Makwarela was elected as Executive Mayor of the City a few weeks ago, of which he has since resigned. This is yet another win for the ANC-led coalition, who have a track record for placing minority party councillors in positions of power in Council.

The sitting initially saw a disruption in the voting process, following some DA councillor’s compromise of the secret ballot vote. Two council members revealed their vote, which led to the IEC removing the ballots and reprinting them to allow for members to vote again.

With over 14 hours wasted yesterday and many delays as a result of debating the membership of expelled ActionSA councillor, Nkele Molapo as well as the re-printing of ballot papers as a result of the DA’s deliberate spoiling of ballots, the City was left with a new Speaker in the early hours of this morning.

The secret vote process later in the sitting saw DA councillors deliberately go against the rule of placing only an ‘X’ next to their chosen candidate, in a bid for the party to police its councillors’ votes. 

This was to prevent any repetition of the events of the previous Council sitting, which saw the party’s Cilliers Brink lose the mayoral race against the ANC-led coalition’s Dr. Murunwa Makwarela via secret ballot, as a result of the some members in multi-party coalition’s vote.

As a result, the ballots were declared spoilt, giving  Ndzwanana the win.

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