Durban - African Democratic Change (ADeC) leader councillor Visvin Reddy has vowed he will continue to fight to remove the speaker of eThekwini Municipality Thabani Nyawose despite the failure of his motion of no confidence against the speaker last week.
The motion that was expected to be debated during a council meeting on Thursday last week failed on a technicality and was not debated.
Reddy said he would re-table a new motion that will be focused on the general performance of the speaker’s office.
It was previously focused on the allegation that Nyawose had misled council about whether there was a criminal case against city manager Musa Mbhele; but the city has since confirmed publicly that there is no case against Mbhele.
“The motion (was) not discussed (on Thursday) because it is unsigned and not seconded. Legal picked it up.
“Furthermore the motion was submitted on June 9 and events since have overtaken the issues surrounding the city manager. However, this does not detract from the fact that this speaker must be replaced. I will be giving notice that I will be submitting the motion at a future date that will be legally compliant and taking into consideration the other incidents of incompetence displayed by this speaker,” said Reddy.
He said there were numerous problems in the speaker’s office that were making it hard for councillors to do their jobs.
The ADeC councillor said: “Over 25% of councillors do not have offices as yet. These offices are key tools of trade and are therefore unable to function effectively as councillors.”
The Mercury reported a few months ago on this issue that almost a year into the new term, some councillors had not been allocated offices.
“I need to state categorically that my motion was not influenced in any way by the ANC faction that wants to replace the current speaker. Such utterances serve to detract from the legitimate concerns I have about the leadership of this municipality which is on a downward spiral,” said Reddy.