There may be more to eThekwini Municipality's bid to silence councillors from speaking negatively about the city to the media than meets the eye.
This week, The Mercury reported that ANC councillor Thembo Ntuli had called for councillors that speak negatively about the city in the media to be charged.
Ntuli's comments came after DA councillor Thabani Mthethwa had complained that it was unacceptable that the exco members learn about critical information and reports through the media rather than through the official channels.
Speaking to IOL, political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast said while there was a need to instil discipline within council structures, the implementation of this rule could be seen as a way to purge members.
“This is a complex matter. The city has to balance the right to freedom of expression which is enshrined in our Constitution and you have to balance that with the right of the organisation to instil discipline amongst its members. Striking that balance is the challenge,” he said.
Breakfast explained that the city, much like a company, had the right to state that its members could not bring it into disrepute.
He said there was a grey area between striking a balance between the two.
“I can share my opinion on social media and if someone is my line manager and there is a history of bad blood, the post could be used to attack me under the guise of instilling discipline,” he said.
Breakfast said there could be more to the call for the implementation of this rule than meets the eye.
“While the municipality can claim to want to strike a balance, it can also be a tool to purge members,” he said.
DA councillor Yogis Govender slammed the idea.
“We are seeing desperate times calling for desperate measures within ANC ranks as the city slides further into chaos and systematic failures which are being exposed daily in the media,” Govender said.
She said that for the past two months, the ANC had threatened to take action against councillors, and that there needed to be a revisit of the city’s social media policy so its image was not impaired.
“They brazenly stated that they will be looking at more stringent measures. They are running scared and we will not be intimidated by these veiled or direct threats. Good governance dictates transparency and as the DA we will strenuously oppose any attempts to gag us,” she said.
IOL