Ekurhuleni’s Speaker Under Fire, EFF’s Nthabiseng Tshivhenga Faces Motion of No Confidence Vote

• The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) is pushing for the removal of the Speaker of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality
• The party has criticised the Economic Freedom Fighters' member for failing to ensure that council meetings were free from fighting
• Nthabiseng Tshivhenga has survived a previous motion of no confidence against her thanks to the African National Congress

GAUTENG – The drama at the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality continues as the council gets ready for a motion of no confidence vote.

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) is pushing for the removal of the Speaker of Council Nthabiseng Tshivhenga, saying that she has failed to ensure that council meetings are free from political infighting and physical altercations.

The council has experienced numerous disruptions and instability over the years due to the reported fractured coalition between the African National Congress, Economic Freedom Fighters and ActionSA.

Tshivhenga under fire from IFP

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The IFP are hoping to get rid of Tshivhenga, saying that she’s failed to maintain order in council meetings. The IFP argued that this makes her unfit to serve as speaker of one of Gauteng’s top municipalities.

The party has also criticised Tshivhenga for not taking action after councillors were assaulted during formal sittings. The motion has been set down for Thursday, 27 February 2025. It’s not the first time that a motion has been brought against her either. The EFF councillor previously survived one thanks to the back of the ANC. Tshivhenga has been in the role for two years.

Chaos reigns supreme in Ekurhuleni council meetings

The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, which covers the East Rand area of Johannesburg, has experienced numerous violent outbursts during council meetings.

Last year chaos broke out in the council chambers on 29 February 2025 after ActionSA had put forward a motion of no confidence against Mayor Sivuyile Ngodwana. Ngodwana was eventually ousted from the post. You can view some of the chaos HERE.

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Gauteng’s culture of no confidence motions

The upcoming motion at Ekurhuleni may be its first of 2025, but the trend is not uncommon in the province.

At the Sedibeng District Municipality, Lerato Maloka was ousted as mayor following a motion of no confidence that was passed on 29 January.

The ANC councillor was then surprisingly elected once more to the post three weeks later when some who originally voted against her in the no confidence vote suddenly changed their minds and voted her in as mayor. Maloka received 25 votes, while Prudence Hlanyane from the Democratic Alliance (DA) only received 24.

The DA’s Cilliers Brink also found himself the victim of a motion of no confidence, as he was removed from his post as Tshwane Mayor on 26 September 2024. 120 councillors voted against Brink, while 87 voted for him to keep the post. One person abstained from voting.

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DA threatens to remove Panyaza Lesufi

In a related article, the DA in Gauteng said it was building towards removing Panyaza Lesufi from office.

Briefly News noted the party was unhappy with the premier, saying he refused to publicly release reports into corruption.

South Africans weighed in on the issue, with some saying that the DA would not get the support it needed.

Source: Briefly News