NATIONAL NEWS - The Democratic Alliance (DA) held a press briefing after the collapse of the Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) special council meeting today scheduled to remove Athol Trollip as mayor.

Trollip said the objective of the opposition parties was to bring the City to its knees until it was under administration and that the ANC was trying to take the metro back from the DA “through the backdoor”.

He added that more sober-minded coalition parties would come on board to work for the City and its people.

Trollip said opposition parties could not accept losing NMB to the DA and its coalition partners.

He said believes UDM councillor Mongameli Bobani – the City’s former deputy mayor – had been part of a plot to collapse the meeting as well as ANC councillor Andile Lungisa, whom Trollip said he had overheard instructing ANC councillors to ensure the meeting did not continue.

At the press briefing, Trollip said DA had wanted to and was ready to debate the motion and that the speaker had placed it on record that should the meeting collapse, the councillors who sought to table the motion would have to petition for its reintroduction by obtaining 61 councillors’ signatures in support of the motion.

Read more on the Caxton publication, The Citizen.