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EFF councillors have been accused by ActionSA of disrupting a party meeting and taking polygraph testing equipment.
According to Michael Beaumont, national chairperson of ActionSA, EFF councillors stormed onto private property on Monday morning where ActionSA councillors were undergoing polygraph testing.
The tests were designed to detect whether party voted against the party line, which called for support for DA candidate Cilliers Brink for mayor of Tshwane.
They entered the site, disturbed the testing procedure, and took the equipment, according to Beaumont. They were led by the party’s regional chairperson, Obakeng Ramabodu.
He went on to say that the party would file a criminal complaint against the three EFF members for theft and trespassing.
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“ActionSA is outraged by the criminal behaviour of EFF councillors in Tshwane who trespassed a private venue, which disrupted the polygraph tests conducted on ActionSA councillors and stole polygraph equipment,” Beaumont said in a statement.
The tests were carried out by ActionSA following the election of Cope councillor Murunwa Makwarela as the new mayor at last week’s Tshwane council meeting.
Makwarela was supported by EFF and ANC councillors, as well as eight councillors from the DA coalition partnership, in the secret ballot poll.
The DA and its coalition partners, ActionSA, and the Freedom Front Plus, committed to look into who voted against the party line.
The polygraph testing session on Monday was one of the options chosen by the coalition partners as part of the investigation.
The coalition was convinced that some councillors had been bought to vote for the ANC and the EFF.
ActionSA has given its councillors till Sunday to express their support for Makwarela.
The polygraph examination was carried out with the help of the party’s caucus.
👇 @EFFSouthAfrica disrupting ActionSA’s proceedings this morning.
Don’t defend this criminality in the name of blackness.
This has got nothing to do with race. This is about protecting our democratic process from corruption.
Who is the @EFFSouthAfrica trying to protect? pic.twitter.com/y7IYSuG3rS
— Herman Mashaba (@HermanMashaba) March 6, 2023
Beaumont claimed that the EFF councillor’s actions demonstrated the party’s need to keep the facts hidden.
The EFF claimed that the polygraph exams were used to intimidate councillors who voted their conscience.
“The EFF is revealing itself daily as a criminal enterprise willing to perform criminal acts to protect their newfound alliance with the ANC,” Beaumont said.
The EFF stated in a statement on Monday that it had “seized” the polygraph testing devices to defend the ActionSA councillors and their right to a secret ballot.
“In defence of the constitutional integrity of the municipal council, we have today seized devices used to conduct illegal and unconstitutional polygraph test on some of the councillors who are legitimate members of the municipal council,” read the statement.
The party claimed that the devices would be turned over to Midrand police on Monday afternoon.
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“We will do everything in our power to dispel forces outside the municipal chamber manipulating the legal outcome of the municipal council as determined by the majority of councillors,” the EFF said.
However, ActionSA councillors, including DA and FF Plus councillors, were absent from a council meeting convened to elect a new speaker of the council on Monday.
Makwarela was the Tshwane council’s speaker, and his seat has been vacant since his election as mayor.
The council meeting did not have a quorum because the political parties were not present.
TSHWANE EFF STATEMENT ON ACTIONSA LIE DETECTOR TESTS CONDUCTED BY A MIDRAND-BASED COMPANY THE VENUE . pic.twitter.com/4CGsFKxHei
— Obakeng Ramabodu (@RamaboduObakeng) March 7, 2023