THE DA in Tshwane will lay criminal charges against EFF councillors for allegedly attempting to attack Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink during a council meeting on Thursday, 31 August.
The council sitting had to stop after council members were involved in a fist fight over the reinstatement of suspended municipal workers.
DA Tshwane Caucus spokesman, Kwena Moloto, said they are unhappy with the violence that erupted during the council sitting when EFF members allegedly tried to assault Brink in Council Chambers.
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He said DA councillors were assaulted and hit with projectiles thrown by EFF councillors.
“This is an unacceptable display of behaviour from the EFF who have once again proven that they have little regard for our democratic institutions.
“The DA in Tshwane will now lay criminal charges against those individuals who decided to treat the Council Chamber as a boxing ring. Violence and criminality cannot, and will not be tolerated,” he said.
Moloto said they condemn the violence and thuggery perpetrated by EFF councillors in chambers, and they have previously expressed that the EFF’s call for the reinstatement of the 122 workers who were dismissed during this illegal strike is an endorsement of violence.
He said:
Meanwhile, EFF Tshwane Caucus leader Obakeng Ramabodu has also condemned the recent attack.
He said they were having a peaceful protest demanding the reinstatement of dismissed workers and a salary increase for workers in Tshwane when they were attacked.
“This violent act perpetrated by members of the DA-led multiparty is an attack on democracy and the rights of workers. We stand in solidarity with the workers of Tshwane and the residents who have been affected by these unjust dismissals.
“The EFF is a protest movement and protest must not be confined to the streets in townships only, but where power resides, in council,” he said.
