The City of Johannesburg (CoJ) Speaker of Council, Councillor Nonceba Molwele is deeply concerned following the postponement of the Council meeting scheduled to take place
on Tuesday, 29 September and Wednesday, 30 September 2020.
The COJ municipal council has held its Council meetings as required by section 18(2) of the Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998, despite some challenges encountered as
a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hybrid system meeting was held in line with Regulations issued by the Minister of COGTA on 03 July 2020 under Gazette Number: 43503, in particular direction 6.7.3 which
permits normal face to face council meetings subject to strict adherence to all COVID-19 public health and containment prescripts, especially those relating to gatherings, physical
distancing, health and safety.
Following the announcement of a hard lockdown by the President in March 2020, in compliance with the Regulations all Council meetings took place virtually. The format of these
virtual meetings was done in consultation with all the political parties represented in Council. This allowed Council to convene, pass and approve the Budget, IDP and other important
Council Reports.
These meetings have had various challenges, given the need to adapt to the new normal which required getting all Councillors familiarised with not only Microsoft Teams, but also
to use the Cisco Webex for Councillors. These systems on their own, presented various challenges.
In line with the Regulations under Level 1 the political leaders agreed on a hybrid system of holding Council meetings. The approach was to allow for physical attendance and
connecting virtually for those who have comorbidities. “On Monday 28 September 2020, I was joined by Chair of Chairs - Cllr Salphina Mulauzi, Chief whip of Council - Cllr Solly Mogase
and other leaders of political parties as we had scheduled a dry run with officials in the City, to go through the preparedness of Council to sit. We were assured that all processes are
in place and that the Bandwidth would handle the number of councillors connected at the same time” Speaker Nonceba Molwele said.
On Tuesday 29 September 2020 most of the Councillors were physically in the Council Chamber and were connected to their laptops simultaneously. This resulted in the strain on
the network in the Council prescient, which could not cope with the influx of connectivity at the same time from the same venue. Council proceedings were delayed for over two
hours as technicians tried to resolve the problem. In view of the technical difficulties the Chief Whip of Council convened a meeting of all the all political parties and they resolved to
recommend to the Speaker of Council to consider postponing the sitting and reconvene the meeting within seven days in a bigger venue that could accommodate all councillors in line
with the Level 1 Regulations relating to gatherings. The Speaker acceded to this request.
“I once again would like to express my sincere apologies to the residents of Johannesburg for any inconvenience that this abrupt collapse of Council may have caused.” said
Speaker Molwele.
May I take this opportunity to reassure the residents of the City that the Legislature remains committed to the building of a cohesive and responsive government.
Further information on the developments will be shared with the Residents and members of the Media.
In accordance with section 29 of the Municipal Structures Act, the Speaker of Council will advise on the date of the next council meeting in due course.
Issued by the City of Johannesburg
Spokesperson for the Speaker of Council: Sipho Masigo, 068 040 9431
For all media queries, send an email to siphomasi@joburg.org.za
