Chaos as speaker bounced out

The speaker of the Moses Kotane local municipality was escorted roughly out of the council chamber by a group of bouncers on Monday as ANC factional infighting spilled over into the council sitting.

- Eric Naki

The council special sitting, which was illegal because it was not called by speaker Gugu Mtshali as required by law, was abruptly stopped following a heated exchange between members of the two factions - one led by mayor Nketu Nkotswe and another by Mtshali.

Although Mtshali was expected to call a meeting anyway on the day, she decided not to go ahead after the ANC Bojanala regional executive committee (REC) directed the ANC caucus not to proceed with both sittings as they were both unprocedural.

The defiant councillors appointed councillor Maria Matshaba as acting speaker and chaired the meeting while Mtshali, who should chair it, was present.