Ethekwini speaker broke rules by changing council meeting, opposition says
On Wednesday, the DA‚ EFF and IFP boycotted eThekwini municipality’s full council meeting‚ accusing speaker William Mapena of breaching rules to allow ANC councillors to go to the party’s policy conference this weekend. The meeting — held monthly — was originally scheduled for Thursday morning‚ but on Monday afternoon a text message was sent out informing councillors that it had been moved forward by a day. But this left opposition parties fuming‚ and the three biggest opposition parties refused to attend. The meeting went ahead despite the boycott‚ with the ANC holding an overwhelming majority in council. "This decision [to boycott] comes after … Mapena violated section 6(2) of the council’s Rules of Order‚ which requires that councillors be given a 72-hour notice on the changes of scheduled council meetings. Changing the dates at such short notice is irresponsible‚ misleading and restricts the members of the public from partaking in matters of council‚" said DA councillor Sharon H...
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