Staff Reporter
Mangaung council speaker Stefan Lockman has been suspended with immediate effect.
Lockman, an ANC member, was suspended by her party after she allegedly defied the party’s caucus in council and allowed a vote of no confidence against city manager Sello More on Wednesday evening.
More was kicked out of office with just three days left on his contract and has since approached the courts on an urgent basis for an interdict.
The suspension was announced by the ANC Interim Regional Committee (IRC) in Mangaung on Thursday following an urgent meeting earlier in the day.
“The speaker is suspended with immediate effect,” said IRC coordinator Sabelo Pitso during the briefing.
He said an acting speaker will be nominated soon.
Pitso said the IRC had noted with concern the illegal actions of the speaker and the councillors who participated in the sitting.
“As a consequence, all ANC councillors were counselled to refrain from participating in any motion regarding this matter until it has been decided upon by the courts,” he said.
“A further directive was made by the chief whip on 26 January 2022 that ANC councillors should not participate in motions that are still being processed by the courts.”
Pitso said the IRC was very disappointed with the speaker’s move to command a small group of councillors to vote with the opposition against a directive of the ANC caucus.
“Deployees of the ANC are always reminded that they serve at the behest of the organisation with the chief whip being the central coordination point of all the activities of ANC in the municipality,” he said.
“All political and operational decisions of ANC deployees are directed and coordinated from this point.”
Pitso said all councillors will now be called before the ANC Regional Working Committee and those who participated in the vote will be asked to explain their actions.
He said the party’s disciplinary committee will institute disciplinary proceedings and the party also wants councillor Patrick Monyakoane to be withdrawn from the Independent Electoral Commission list.
“It is the considered view of the IRC that the actions of the speaker and the few councillors who attended the council sitting constitute gross insubordination and decidedly put the ANC in Mangaung into disrepute,” said Pitso.
“Their actions are intended to destabilise the normal functioning of the council and undermine growing public confidence in the capacity of the municipality to deliver services.
“The IRC has a reasonable apprehension that the speaker and these few comrades will likely continue with their actions unless the ANC takes decisive action.”
He said the ANC is committed to a process of unity and renewal which includes working hard to ensure good governance is restored in municipalities.
“Any ANC deployee who stands opposed to the unity of the ANC shall be throttled. The flagrant and sheer determination to defy party decisions shall not obtain in the Mangaung region,” the IRC coordinator warned.