Port Elizabeth – The successful motion of no confidence in Nelson Mandela Bay deputy mayor Mongameli Bobani was in the municipality’s best interests, Cope said on Thursday evening.
The UDM’s Bobani consistently voted against the multi-party coalition government and sided with the ANC, Congress of the People spokesperson Siyasanga Sijadu said in a statement.
“It was also becoming very apparent that he was no longer driving a mandate given to him by his party, but one of personal destruction fuelled by ambition. The decision is difficult, but it is a decision that had to be made.”
The vote of no confidence in the city council on Thursday followed months of tension between Bobani and DA mayor Athol Trollip.
The motion was brought by Patriotic Alliance member Marlon Daniels and seconded by DA leader Nqaba Bhanga. The DA had claimed that Bobani was corrupt. Coalition partners DA, Cope, and the ACDP all voted in favour of the motion.
On Thursday afternoon, UDM leader Bantu Holomisa threatened to pull out of its coalition in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro unless Bobani was reinstated by Monday.
"The DA has gone rogue in the worst manner possible," Holomisa said in a letter addressed to the four coalition partners.
"Going to the media and saying that the UDM tolerates corruption is tantamount to defamation. Making these damaging statements about the UDM in the media is also in contravention of the co-governance agreement. Why must we tolerate this?"
