GOOD Statement by Jonathan Cupido, GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor & Caucus Whip:
Cape Town deserves a Council that is functional, transparent, and accountable. Instead, yesterday’s sitting revealed a shocking failure of governance. 50 councillors’ votes simply vanished during one of the most important decisions on the agenda.
During yesterday’s Cape Town Council sitting, the attendance register recorded 214 members present. Yet, when it came to the crucial vote of no confidence in Speaker Felicity Purchase, only 164 votes were counted – 125 against, 37 in favour, and 2 abstentions.
Even though the 50 votes were unlikely to have overturned the DA’s majority decision to shield their Speaker, the disappearance of 50 votes exposes a fundamental flaw in the City’s online voting system.
The DA itself recorded 131 members present – six more than the 125 who voted against the motion. There were no attempts to understand this glaring discrepancy or to establish what happened to the missing votes. At the very least, those councillors should have been counted as abstentions, or the presiding officer should have intervened to ensure every councillor’s vote was properly recorded.
GOOD has consistently and vehemently objected to Council meetings being held virtually. The Rules of Order, adopted by Council in December 2019, are clear, in-person sittings are the default, with virtual sittings permitted only in exceptional, justified circumstances.
Yesterday’s chaos vindicates our objections. The meeting began late due to failures in the public audio stream. Councillors struggled to sign in. Microphones malfunctioned throughout. And most seriously, the voting system collapsed, disenfranchising scores of councillors and undermining the integrity of Council itself.
The DA continues to undermine the credibility of the democratic process.
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Ja, Nee – Yes, NoOften used in succession, these two words are used to express agreement or confirmation with someone or something.Example: “Ja, Nee, I’m fine thanks.”