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ActionSA terminates membership of Tshwane councillor, 4 others face disciplinary hearings
ActionSA has terminated the membership of one of its councillors in Tshwane.
Sharon Seretlo, Gallo Images
- ActionSA has terminated the membership of a Tshwane councillor.
- The party has also decided to discipline four other members of its Tshwane caucus.
- The disciplinary action announced by ActionSA’s senate follows an investigation relating to what it calls “disruptive” and “dysfunctional” behaviour by some caucus members.
ActionSA has terminated the membership of a councillor and will haul four other members to a disciplinary hearing amid fears of factional instability among its political structures in the Tshwane metro.
ActionSA councillor Sizwe Skhosana’s party membership was terminated because of grave misconduct allegations, ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont told News24 on Thursday.
The party’s leaders took the decisions at a meeting on Friday.
Skhosana’s suspension forms part of the party’s efforts to resolve issues plaguing ActionSA structures in the Tshwane metro.
Beaumont said the issues affecting the caucus included disruptive behaviour, which the party believed might cause factional battles among members.
Skhosana was the only member whose membership was terminated immediately by ActionSA’s senate because the evidence against him was overwhelming, Beaumont said.
READ | ActionSA terminates Gauteng leader Abel Tau’s membership amid allegations of sexual assault
ActionSA’s constitution allows for the immediate termination of membership, and the party doesn’t have an appeal mechanism.
Beaumont told News24 four other party members were facing disciplinary action in connection with allegations of disruptive behaviour and bringing the party into disrepute. He declined to confirm the identity of the other councillors facing disciplinary action.
Beaumont said:
We immediately terminated the membership of the councillor. And the others would be facing disciplinary action. We received complaints from ActionSA councillors and coalition partners that the individual’s (Skhosana’s) behaviour was highly unacceptable because of personal attacks on people and aggressive and disruptive behaviour that undermined the leadership of the caucus structure.
Concerns remain about the stability of the caucus in the Tshwane metro because it may be the only coalition remaining after the collapse of the coalition in Johannesburg. The Ekurhuleni metro could suffer the same fate.
ActionSA has 22 caucus members in the Tshwane metro.
The City’s coalition arrangement is viewed as more stable than the other metros.
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ActionSA Gauteng leader Bongani Baloyi told News24 the probe into the Tshwane caucus was warranted because the structure had to be “aligned”.
“I have the responsibility as chair to do something when caucuses are dysfunctional. Several interventions were explored, and the investigation, the report and the ultimate sanctions were the outcomes,” Baloyi said.
In November 2022, the party terminated the membership of its Gauteng leader Abel Tau, who served on the Tshwane council, following sexual assault allegations.