The Democratic Alliance has called on the United Democratic Movement to put the people of Nelson Mandela Bay first.
That was the appeal from the chairperson of the DA's Federal Council, James Selfe, on Friday, who rejected an ultimatum by the UDM to reinstate ousted Deputy Executive Mayor, Mongameli Bobani.
Bobani was axed on Thursday by the DA-led coalition Council after a motion of no confidence was tabled by Patriotic Alliance councillor, Marlon Daniels.
The motion was carried even though the ANC and some other opposition parties walked out of Chambers, later threatening legal action or calling for a new vote.
UDM leader, Bantu Holomisa, issued an ultimatum to the DA to reinstate Bobani by 4pm on Monday or it would pull out of the coalition.
But, Selfe said they have no intention of acceding to the UDM's demand.
"The decision to move a motion of no confidence against the former deputy mayor of NMB, Mr Bobani, was not an easy one. Over the last 9 months, we have implored Mr Holomisa to redeploy Mr Bobani to another position. We have met with the UDM and other coalition partners endlessly about this matter, to no avail," Selfe said.
He said the NMB coalition government had achieved much since being elected, in no small part due to "our other coalition partners who have remained committed to our coalition agreement to zero tolerance for corruption."
"However, former deputy mayor Bobani has been a destructive member of this particular coalition, and his actions have served to undermine service delivery, most especially to the poorest and most vulnerable communities. He has voted with the ANC in the Council on a number of occasions, conduct which is simply unacceptable and contrary to our coalition agreement," Selfe said.
He said Bobani "still needs to answer serious allegations of irregular expenditure, fraud and corruption that allegedly took place in the directorate for which he was previously responsible, conduct which is inconsistent with our collective commitment to stopping corruption, improving service delivery and creating jobs.
Selfe told Algoa FM News that in the absence of the UDM "things will be tight in Council."
"The coalition will still have 60 votes for it. This will obviously make things very tight and our people will have to ensure that they attend every meeting. But, it is better to have a tighter coalition of fewer members than not to know from minute to minute whether your so-called coalition partners were actually voting for you which was the case that we experienced with Mr Bobani who frequently voted with the ANC and against the Coalition," Selfe said.
He said that the Speaker, Jonathan Lawack of the DA, will have the casting vote.
