ANC furious at ‘anti-democratic DA’ after Mzwandile Masina kicked out of council meeting

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ANC furious at 'anti-democratic DA' after Mzwandile Masina kicked out of council meeting
ANC furious at 'anti-democratic DA' after Mzwandile Masina kicked out of council meeting

Africa-Press – South-Africa. The ANC in Ekurhuleni has described the DA-led coalition government in the municipality as anti-democratic, following a commotion at a council meeting that ended when former mayor Mzwandile Masina was kicked out.

Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department officers escorted Masina out of the council sitting on the instructions of council speaker, Raymond Dhlamini.

The former Ekurhuleni mayor was accused of disrupting proceedings.

A video shows Masina being escorted out of chambers.

The ANC is an opposition party in Ekurhuleni and Thursday’s chaotic scene was linked to council questions.

Councillors were responding to Mayor Tania Campbell’s State of the City address.

The ANC said Masina was within the bounds of the law when he questioned Dhlamini on procedural matters.

Masina said he would lay a criminal charge against Dhlamini and Campbell.

He took exception to what he and the ANC deemed an abuse of law enforcement power and council processes.

News24 understands that the Ekurhuleni council could investigate Masina’s actions.

A DA member told News24 that Masina might face an investigation by the council’s ethics committee for his “disruptive behaviour”.

In response to Thursday’s incident, the ANC labelled the DA-led coalition government anti-democratic.

“The DA-led coalition government is, in fact, anti-democratic. The bigger concern that must occupy the people of Ekurhuleni and, indeed, South Africa, is the dangerous setting of parameters for authoritarianism that it is facilitating. The culture of debate and engagement is embedded in the very DNA of South Africa’s democracy. Our road to the democratic dispensation was paved with engagement and the principle of dialogue to resolve challenges that our people are confronted with.

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“The coalition government under the leadership of comrade Mzwandile Masina, despite having been confronted with numerous instances of heckling and jeering in council chambers by the opposition, never once resorted to the use of force as a means of maintaining order. This is because democracy is a fundamental principle and practice in the ANC, rather than a theory,” the ANC in Ekurhuleni said on Friday.

The ANC lost its control of Ekurhuleni in the 2021 municipal elections.

The City is led by the DA and several coalition political parties.

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