A row erupted on Wednesday when mayor Princess Faku “strong-armed” the Buffalo City Metro council to bend its rules and allow her to sneak in a surprise report which was not meant to form part of the council agenda.
ANC councillors, including Faku, had to literally beg opposition party councillors to bend council rules and allow for the tabling of a “compliance report”.
Failure of the city executive to table the report on Wednesday, before the National Treasury deadline on Thursday, could have led to the metro losing a portion of its much-needed electricity grant from the Treasury, Faku told the council.
The exigency report related to the city’s new electricity and energy business turnaround strategy, and was introduced as an exigency item by Faku at the beginning of Wednesday’s meeting.
This was after it had been distributed to councillors less than 24 hours before, a move contrary to council regulations.
The introduction of an exigency item is not allowed during special council meetings, as such meetings deal only with predetermined agenda items, unless a report is distributed more than 24 hours before such meeting.
Faku’s surprise report was distributed to councillors less than 18 hours before the scheduled meeting, and thus was not supposed to make the cut in the day’s agenda items.
After Faku had informed the council of her wishes to sneak in the report, DA chief whip Anathi Majeke interjected and told council speaker Humphrey Maxhegwana that this was not allowed in terms of rules governing the convening of special council meetings.
Faku then said: “I have to agree with MamBhele [Majeke] about the rules, but I beg her as this is a matter of compliance, with this report having to be submitted before the 31st.
“We all know that as BCM we have backlog challenges and this is really affecting us.
“We had engagements with the National Treasury, which has requested us to compile and submit this electricity business strategy before October 31.
“We are therefore pleading and humbling ourselves as the executive, for council to just allow us to present this strategy as it should be submitted to the National Treasury by tomorrow.
“I fully agree with you on the rules, and sincerely apologise as this won’t happen again.
“You know we have been observing these rules, but this is just a special case,” Faku pleaded, saying this was a compliance matter.
However, DA councillor Geoff Walton disagreed, saying this was not a compliance issue and the report “could and should have been brought before council much earlier”.
“I don’t see this being a compliance issue,” he said.
“If we have rules, we need to comply with those rules. We cannot just choose when to comply and when not to comply, as that is wrong.”
EFF chief whip Siya Rumbu said: “If we have rules, we need to stick to them.
“There is nowhere in our rules where a person is allowed to just stand up and beg or plead with council to bend its rules.”
The ANC’s Mike Basopu said: “I agree fully with the members of the opposition in terms of rules and everything, but one thing missing in this discussion is our mandate, that of providing services to our people.
“That is why I am begging and pleading with all of you, let’s accept this as it has to do with service delivery and the lives of our people.”
The ANC’s Yomelela Tyali said: “I am pleading with honourable members, as the executive mayor did, that we accept the report, as a matter of exigency.
“Let us rise above the issues that we are raising and put the people of Buffalo City at the centre of these discussions.”
The EFF’s Mziyanda Hlekiso said in terms of the rules the opposition was correct, but “we cannot stand in front of service delivery”.
“Regardless of the irregularities, what happens today, it must never be allowed again,” he said.
Maxhegwana warned both Faku and city manager Mxolisi Yawa “to make sure this does not happen again”.
He then blamed metro administrators for “plunging council into a crisis”.
“It is unacceptable that they have put us in this situation as council, in particular me, the chair of council. I do not think this is fair to councillors,” an agitated Maxhegwana said.
Yawa was then forced to apologise for the late submission of the report, saying the delays were due to numerous exchanges between city bosses and the National Treasury in preparing the strategy report.
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