On Tuesday July 11 the EFF members of the Mogale City council were not wearing their usual red overalls. The party’s caucus, dressed demurely and led by Smanga Mkhumbeni, sat in the small council chamber amid tight security. The council meeting was being held, for the third time since the contentious election of an ANC mayor in June, to pass its budget. The situation seemed almost intractable. The budget had to be passed to ensure that the municipality, on Gauteng’s West Rand, was not put under administration. But matters had become difficult after the ANC’s Patrick Lipudi took the reins from former DA mayor Michael Holenstein. For two council meetings 38 ANC councillors sat in frustration as they failed to make a quorum, with fewer than 50% of the councillors at their disposal. The 39-strong voting bloc of the DA, EFF, Freedom Front (FF) Plus and IFP had boycotted the sittings after the ANC reclaimed the mayoral seat, despite not having the necessary majority among its own members....
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