THE falling apart Maluti-a-Phofung Municipality in the Free State has failed to reach a quorum in a crucial special council seating that was supposed to elect a mayor and speaker on Thursday, 7 September.
Only 11 councillors attended the seating, and 59 of them boycotted the seating.
Acting municipal manager Amos Goliath was forced to apply standard rules and ordered to adjourn the council.
The council has 70 councillors, and it requires 36 of them to quorate and successfully elect a mayor and speaker.
"The seating couldn't proceed because councillors were not forming a quorum. The council consists of 70 councillors. It requires 51% of them to proceed with a meeting. Rule 41 dictates that if the meeting doesn't start due to fewer numbers, there should be 20 minutes delay to accommodate late councillors. The meeting will be reconvened in 30 days," he said.
Goliath promised to meet the chief whips of all 11 political parties to request seating within seven days.
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But the Democratic Alliance (DA) pronounced earlier that it won't partake in the voting with its five seats.
The ANC has 28 seats, and outgoing MAP 16 has 20 seats, and EFF seven seats with other small parties.
It's unclear why councillors decided to boycott a crucial council seating, which was supposed to fill the vacant positions of the removed mayor and speaker.
The mayor and speaker were removed through a motion of no confidence on Tuesday, 29 August, after being accused of incompetence and failing to deliver service. The municipality is in a state of total collapse. It owes Eskom R7,5 billion and can't provide service delivery.
High levels of corruption in the municipality have allegedly become a norm, and it can't even generate enough income monthly.
The municipality has struggled with water and electricity for almost a decade.
