The DA in the metro has laid the blame for the chaos of Thursday\u2019s council meeting, held in the Germiston Council Chambers, squarely on council Speaker Patricia Kumalo.<\/p>\n
The meeting was heated from the start, with an altercation between councillor for the IRASA Izak Berg and ANC councillor Robert Mashego.<\/p>
During the altercation Berg offended Kumalo when he pointed angrily at her.<\/p>\n
After making it clear that she would not allow any man to disrespect her, Kumalo adjourned the meeting, for a short period, to allow her a moment to regain her thoughts.<\/p>
The chaos continued when the DA took offence to comments from ANC councillor Doctor Xhakaza.<\/p>\n
The MMC for water and energy allegedly called African members of the DA \u201cfronts\u201d, causing the DA chief whip, Andr\u00e9 du Plessis to raise an objection by way of a point of order.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Speaker would not entertain the idea that the ANC was out of order and cited that this was a political debate and that the DA should be quiet,\u201d said Fortune Mahano, DA leader in the metro.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe then allowed the speaker to continue and the debate descended into chaos when Clr Xhakaza said it was a proven fact that the DA would \u2018bring back apartheid\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DA sees this unashamed racism in an extremely serious light and will not tolerate being attacked in this manner.\u201d<\/p>\n
The DA alleged that, in the past, Kumalo has ruled the DA out of order for using words like ”nonsense” and ”waffle” during the political debate as offensive language.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis obvious bias shows that the Speaker does not understand her role and cannot be objective.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not the first time the DA has called for the removal of the Speaker,\u201d said Mahano<\/p>\n
The meeting ended with the DA walking out of the council chambers.<\/p>\n
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