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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in eThekwini has today lodged its intention to move a motion to remove Mayor Zandile Gumede as a member of the Executive Committee at the next Council Meeting on 31 July 2019.
The notice was lodged with the Speaker of Council, Councillor William Lekgoa Mapena.
We intend to use available provisions of the Structures Act to vote Gumede off of the Executive Committee, and thus out of her Mayoral seat.
The ANC is not willing to take decisive action against Gumede. The matter of her future has been bandied about for ages, with her 30-day leave now seemingly extended indefinitely. While Gumede is on holiday, eThekwini residents continue to pay her R115 000 per month salary.
Since 2016, Gumede and her allies and have brought eThekwini to the brink of collapse. Service delivery is at an all-time low, the city’s economy and rates base have flat-lined, and violence and chaos is the order of the day.
The devastating fraud and corruption charges against the Mayor and her co-accused are just the tip of the iceberg.
If the ANC refuses to act against Gumede, the DA will. Over the next two weeks, we will reach out to opposition parties and ANC councillors alike to rally their support for this motion. We are certain that many within the ANC also want Gumede gone and could work with us.
We have also requested that the motion be decided by secret ballot. The culture of political violence and intimidation demands that people be allowed to express their democratic will without fear. The violent protests by Gumede’s supporters at City Hall over the past few weeks, which have included ANC councillors, are further proof that this motion must be voted on in secret.
The Democratic Alliance believes it’s time to draw a line in the sand in eThekwini. The kind of corruption, chaos and maladministration that have characterised Gumede’s years at the top need to stop before there is nothing left of our beautiful city.
The DA urges all those who care about eThekwini to stand together and say with one voice: enough is enough, and Gumede must go.