GOOD statement by Lloyd Philips,
GOOD: City of Johannesburg Councillor
19 January 2022
Following yesterday’s sitting of the City of Johannesburg’s (CoJ) Council, GOOD will refer the Speaker of the Johannesburg Council, Cllr Vascoe Da Gama, to the Ethics Committee for his flagrant flouting of the Rules and Orders of Council established in 2016.
This comes after a dispute at yesterday’s council meeting during the election of the Chair of Chairs which resulted in the collapse of the meeting. This was because the DA Speaker of Council called for a vote by a show of hands which is not provided for in the rules and orders.
Section 85(1) of the CoJ’s Rules and Orders expressly states that councillors “…decide on an item by calling either “Yes” or “No” after the Presiding Officer has put the item” to them.
The Speaker calling for a vote by show of hands is at odds with the rules and orders as stipulated above. If left unchecked, this conduct has the potential to throw all council votes into question and delegitimise its decisions. It is important that the rules established by Council are followed to the letter.
The election of the Chair of Chairs and the establishing of Section 79 Committees is critical to the work of Council in its quest to ensure the provision of better basic services to the residents it is elected to serve.
This is not Cllr Da Gama’s first time in the Speaker’s chair and he should be well aware of council rules and should apply the rules as written as the custodian of Council’s integrity.
The residents of Johannesburg cannot afford for the Speaker’s dereliction to collapse the work of Council from one sitting to the next. The Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and Budget to improve the lives of the residents of Johannesburg is on the horizon and cannot fall prey to procedural errors- either through incompentence or design.
Cllr Da Gama must stop being an agent of chaos and disorder and keep Council on track to hold the City’s Executive to account and assist in the work to provide better services for all of its residents.
Media enquiries:
Lloyd Phillips, GOOD City of Johannesburg Councillor
Cell: 0747317578
Email: lloydp04@gmail.com
Samkelo Mgobozi, GOOD: Media Manager
Cell: 0792315977 (whatsapp)/0829684021 (calls)
Email: samm@forgood.org.za