PA to back Trollip

Mayor could escape axe in exchange for deputy position and roads portfolio The deputy mayor position and mayoral committee member in charge of roads and transport – that is what the DA agreed to hand over to the Patriotic Alliance (PA) in exchange for its one vote in the council to keep Athol Trollip on as mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay. This is according to PA president Gayton McKenzie, who said last night they had clinched the deal with the DA. However, Trollip said there was no formal agreement in place and he would thus not comment until he had spoken directly to McKenzie about his decision. “Until there is a formal agreement, I will not be commenting on anything that is being discussed behind closed doors,” he said. “I have not spoken to Gayton McKenzie today [yesterday]. “Until I’ve spoken to him and found out what his actual position is, I’m not going to he making any comments. “When I’ve spoken to him and we have discussed it as party leaders, I will make a comment.” With the PA’s one seat, the DA and coalition partners ACDP and COPE, which have a combined 59 seats, will now have 60 votes in the council. There are a total of 120 seats in the council. In the event of a tie, the council rules allow the speaker, who is a DA councillor, to have a casting vote to sway the outcome. This applies to motions and other agenda items that do not relate to finances. However, when passing budgets or bylaws, a 61-member majority is required. The other political parties’ seats are split as follows: the ANC 50, EFF six, UDM two and the AIC and United Front one seat each. The PA’s decision about which way to vote in tomorrow’s council meeting comes after weeks of horse-trading between all parties, as opposition parties have been gunning to see Trollip axed. EFF leader Julius Malema’s comments that the party wanted to punish the DA for its stance on land expropriation without compensation bolstered the opposition parties, who thought they would see Trollip unseated. But McKenzie explained in his open letter to the ANC, his former political home, that he was “disappointed with the crude display of racism” that had accompanied the no-confidence motion, particularly Malema’s comments that they were “cutting the throat of the whiteness” of the DA by going after Trollip. “This does not sit well in a country with so many political murders and such a painful history,” McKenzie wrote. “I am, of course, not surprised by such utterances from the EFF, which has proven itself willing to do just about everything for media headlines and political survival. “My shock and utter disappointment has been compounded by the complete silence of the leaders of the ANC in the face of all this naked racism – your silence comes from your thirst for power in Nelson Mandela Bay. “You dare not speak up because Malema will turn on you again and allow Trollip to stay. “You have been cowed into submission by the dangerous yapping of this demagogue who is taking this country down a dangerous path.”

McKenzie accused the ANC of throwing away everything it stood for. “You were silent when Malema told the country he is now ruling South Africa, and that he is de facto leading the ANC. “None of you dared to stand up and say a word in protest. He said he was standing up for ‘what we should be as South Africa’. “We cannot support a motion of no-confidence against a man when the only apparent basis for that motion is that the man in question happens to be white. ” Anyone voting against Trollip tomorrow would be engaging in an act of racism, and the PA would not take part in it. “So, Trollip will be going nowhere [tomorrow],” McKenzie wrote. “Malema and his mad ego might have allowed him to believe he is leading the ANC. “But he doesn’t lead the PA, and he certainly will not be leading PE come Good Friday if the [PA] has anything to do with it.” The PA was previously in bed with the DA-led coalition after Trollip’s relationship with the UDM turned sour. At the time, the PA also demanded the deputy mayor post, as well as the safety and security portfolio head position. PA councillor Marlon Daniels was given the public health portfolio to lead, but Trollip refused to accede to handing over the deputy mayorship. This led to Daniels pulling out of the coalition after only three months and later tabling a motion against Trollip in November. Trollip survived the motion with the backing of the EFF at the time. EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu said they would forge ahead with the noconfidence motion tomorrow. “We hope Trollip will not be mayor after the vote of no confidence, so let’s test it [tomorrow],” Shivambu said. He said they had not been negotiating with the PA. “We will never negotiate with a party of gangsters,” he said. “If Trollip survives, the message will be clear that we did not vote for him. “You must remember that Trollip is in office because the EFF previously voted for him in the [past] motion of no confidence. “We are withdrawing our vote completely and we are never going to vote with him on any budget,” Shivambu said. “We are, however, confident that he is going to fall. “Even if he has struck a deal with the gangsters, we are very confident Trollip will not be mayor by Good Friday.”

The AIC’s Tshonono Buyeye said he was not surprised by the PA’s decision. “I would be lying if I said I’m shocked because we have always known that he was talking to the DA. They [have] reached an agreement before and were willing to come together before,” Buyeye said. “I am disappointed, especially, with our motion as the AIC. “Our motion was about the speaker because it is a very crucial matter. “Even now we might have a 60-60 situation [tomorrow] and the speaker will decide.” The United Front’s Mkhuseli Mtsila described the PA’s decision as the worst form of betrayal.

“Marlon pretended he was going to vote with us as the Black Caucus. “People will trade deals as they see fit and the PA saw fit to do this,” Mtsila said. The UDM’s Mongameli Bobani said the PA’s change of heart changed nothing as his party, together with the other parties, were forging ahead with the motion. “As the UDM, we’re confident this motion will carry through and that one vote that Trollip has secured doesn’t make a difference and [he] will be out,” Bobani said. ANC regional secretary Themba Xathula said the party would continue with its role of being the official opposition and would still support the motion of no confidence. Xathula said that during the discussions in the lead-up to the vote, the PA had demanded the mayorship without discussing the political framework of governance moving forward. “Now Marlon has run away from this discussion to the DA,” Xathula said. “Marlon is on record that he wants to be mayor. How can a R12.3-billion city be run by someone who doesn’t know the framework.”