Nelson Mandela Bay executive mayor, Athol Trollip said he is more than prepared to go back to the opposition seats if the motion of no confidence against him succeeds.
EFF leader, Julius Malema, on Tuesday, sounded a warning in Parliament to Trollip, that EFF Councillors would be bringing a motion of no confidence against him as a warning shot to the DA on the land issue.
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday during reply to debate on his motion on the land issue, Malema said that "on 6 April, the day of Jan van Riebeck's arrival, the day of the formation of the Pan Africanist Congress by (Robert) Sobukwe and the hanging of Solomon Mahlangu, in honour of these people and also as a demonstration of our seriousness about this issue of land we will be passing a motion of no confidence on the mayor of PE as a warning shot to the DA."
Malema had earlier warned DA leader Mmusi Maimane that the DA's "stay in the Metro's is going to depend on the party's attitude on the issue of the Expropriation of Land Without Compensation".
Speaking on the DMB on Algoa FM on Wednesday, Trollip said it was expected that it would happen sooner or later, as Malema said right up-front that he did not want to be involved in any formal coalitions.
"It's a tit for tat kind of thing, if you don't vote for our motion we will kick out one of your mayors. Well, I'll be the first and then who will be next, when will the next threat be. In politics, you always have to find the principal and not the personality. So, if I'm the scapegoat for that and I must go that's fine but we are going to keep our heads down, we are going to carry on working, bringing about change in this city and improving service delivery. We will see what happens on the 6th of April," he said.
Trollip said if the DA-led coalition loses the position of governing the Metro then the party would go back to being the opposition, adding, that he spent 23 years as opposition and he was comfortable in that role.
"The party will also have some decisions in where I go and what I do but I'm here to serve the interests of the electorate and I stand firmly behind the policies and principals of the Democratic Alliance," he said
The EFF is expected to table the motion on the 6th of April.
