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ANC unlawfully gains control of Mogale City

As Mogale City/Krugersdorp residents went about their business on Wednesday, the multi-party governance (DA, FF Plus and IFP) fought it out to see who would fill the vacant mayoral seat.

“The council meeting that started at 10:00 in the morning and only drew to a close after 01:00 on Thursday morning, saw two new DA councillors sworn in after the vote of no confidence in the former mayor cllr. Holenstein was won by the ANC. This happened because the ANC speaker, Patrick Lepudi, allowed an unlawful motion against cllr. Holenstein,” says Amanda de Lange, FF Plus councillor and chairperson of the MPAC (Municipal Public Accounts Committee) for Mogale City.

“When the voting process commenced, the speaker announced that he had devised a 'new' voting method ‘that would ensure a fair and democratic process’. He also announced that the IEC could not facilitate the voting process and therefore, officials from the municipality were to perform that duty.

"I find this very peculiar as the date for the meeting could easily have been altered or officials from other provinces could have been asked to facilitate the voting process. My guess is that the IEC was not willing to be associated with the unlawful and irregular voting process that the ANC speaker and his cadres invented", says De Lange.

According to De Lange, after their objection to the process was dismissed by speaker Lepudi, the FF Plus requested a caucus break to discuss the matter with the multi-party governance during which they advised that the multi-party should abstain from taking part in the irregular, unlawful and undemocratic voting process. They also advised that legal action should be taken on Thursday so as to force speaker Lepudi to comply with the prescribed regulations. Unfortunately, the DA's National Executives insisted that they take part in the voting process even though the negative outcome was evident and remedial action would be much more challenging to execute.

Speaker Lepudi and cllr Michael Holenstein were the only two candidates nominated for the mayoral position.

Although Lepudi was nominated, he refused to vacate his chair as presiding officer and speaker during the voting process and by implication he therefore oversaw his own election. The seat was won by the ANC with two alleged spoiled votes and one vote turned in favour of the ANC.

To prevent any meddling with the irregular and unlawful voting system that the speaker and his ANC party members had devised, Lepudi appointed the municipal manager to act as the presiding officer when the election for the vacant speaker’s position commenced. Once again, this is in contravention of the established rules and regulations that prescribe that a chairperson of a council 79 committee needs to act as the presiding officer for such elections.

The seat of the speaker was also lost to the ANC with no spoiled votes, but with two votes turned by the multi-party members.

According to De Lange, the DA intends to start legal proceedings on Thursday morning to address the illegalities of the voting process and the unlawful conduct of the new mayor, Patrick Lepudi.

"We need to re-address the coalition agreement as well, as a city in Gauteng cannot be run by instructions of the DA from Cape Town,” De Lange said.

Cllr De Lange added that the best interests of the Mogale City residents are still the top priority of the FF Plus and that although the multi-party is unseated for the time being, the necessary remedial plans are in place to restore law and order.

Contact number: 071 604 9498

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