Two Mogale City councillors belonging to the ANC, Merriam Mogoje and Mlungisi Ndamase, submitted a motion of no confidence in mayor Tyrone Gray in February following the findings of the latest Auditor General report.

According to the councillors, the outcomes of the report state that the municipality regressed on its audit findings and has received a worse opinion compared to the previous financial years.

The report, which has been seen by Daily Maverick, found that reasonable steps were not taken to prevent irregular expenditure, as required by section 62(1)(d) of the MFMA. It also states that the municipality was unable to avert fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounting to R28,845,611. 

The DA has been running a minority government in the city which means that the ANC together with the EFF can oust Gray without the assistance of smaller parties.

The council only has 77 seats with the ANC (31) and EFF (11) making up over 50% of the council.

Read more in Daily Maverick: ANC and DA split the win for municipal by-elections in Gauteng’s West Rand 

The DA’s Gauteng Chairperson Fred Nel said they would be willing to accept the outcome of the motion, even if it meant their mayor would have to vacate office. 

“I think Tyrone has been doing a good job in turning things around in the city, especially the finances. We are happy with what he has done, considering what he inherited from the ANC,” Nel explained. 

It is likely that Gray will be replaced by a councillor from a minority party. This has been a strategy which has been implemented by the ANC- EFF coalition in other municipalities they have taken from the DA, like the City of Johannesburg.  

Gray was unexpectedly voted in as the city’s mayor in 2021 following the local government elections. At the time the EFF was adamant to keep the ANC from governing the majority of municipalities in Gauteng which saw the Red Berets voting for a DA mayor and speaker. 

Delays and suspensions

ANC caucus leader Lucky Sele told Daily Maverick that the motion was supposed to have been debated and voted on earlier in the year, however, the DA had used delaying tactics. 

Sele said the motion was supposed to have been tackled by the end of February but it was moved to March and that there were three attempts for the meeting to be held but there was no quorum.

“The speaker was not putting the motion on the agenda, so you cannot attend meetings where you are not satisfied with the items. The speaker was defying what the majority of councillors wanted. We wanted the audit report to be tabled so that we can hold the mayor accountable but this was not happening,” Sele lamented.

Eventually, the speaker, Jaqueline Pannall, decided to investigate ANC and EFF councillors for breaching the code of conduct after not attending the scheduled meetings. Panall then suspended councillors who had failed to attend meetings without providing an apology. 

However, Gauteng Cooperative Governance MEC Mzi Khumalo intervened in the matter which led to the overturning of the decision. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: Mogale City on a precipice: DA has two weeks to uncover its rebel 

DA provincial leader Solly Msimanga then went on to cry foul about how Khumalo handled the situation.  

“Before their removal, the speaker had written to the councillors indicating that they could be expelled from the council because of the number of meetings missed. She then asked them to attend the next meeting. They defied this order. After this, the Speaker wrote to MEC Khumalo about the situation with the councillors and received no response.

“Only now that the councillors have been expelled, there is a response from the MEC. This is unacceptable, and instead of demanding that the councillors be reinstated, the MEC must look at the behaviour of the councillors. Our residents deserve to have public representatives who are committed to making sure that service delivery takes place. This can only happen if all councillors are committed to attending all council meetings,” according to Msimanga. DM