Standing Rules and Orders of Council
Rule 72: Points of order and rulings in meetings
The passages show Rule 72 being cited by councillors who "rise on" it to raise a concern or point during a council meeting, such as the conduct of an election process, and the Speaker is expected to be told which rule they are rising under. Rule 72A appears to relate to the Speaker's rulings, which councillors may ask to have referred to the Rules Committee, and a ruling under it seems to end further debate. The exact wording and details are unclear from these passages.
Plain-English summary written with AI from how the City's minutes quote and use the rule. The official text is not published by the City.
How the minutes record it
He further referred Council to Rule 72A, which stated that "A ruling of the Presiding Officer shall be final and binding and shall not be debated".
Signed minutes, Wednesday, 21 June 2023Councillor Niemand (DA) rose on Rule 72(1) of the Standing Rules and Orders of Council and expressed concern that the IEC was packing up and leaving while Council was in the midst of the legal process.
Signed minutes, Thursday, 28 August 2025Councillor Christians (DA) rose on Rule 84 and registered the dissent of the Democratic Alliance and said the decision to put the matter to a vote was illegal because Rule 72A had been negated.
Signed minutes, Wednesday, 27 November 2024Councillor Raphadu (ANC) rose on Rule 72 of the Standing Rules and Orders of Council and urged the Speaker to ensure that when Councillors rise to speak, they must specify the rule under which they are rising.
Signed minutes, Wednesday, 22 May 2024Councillor Ngobeni L (ActionSA) rose on Rule 72 of the Standing Rules and Orders of Council and said that Councillors have been in the meeting since the morning with the hope that residents of the City of Joburg would have a new Executive Mayor by the end of the day.
Signed minutes, Tuesday, 2 May 2023Councillor Rahn (DA) addressed Council, referring to Rule 72A of the Standing Rules and Orders of Council, and requested that the ruling be referred to the Rules Committee for consideration.
Signed minutes, Monday, 29 September 2025
Every meeting whose minutes cite it (7)
Heard in the chamber
- 27 August 2026, 02:48:40
Thank you Speaker. I rise in terms of Rule 72. The councilor speaking now has just misled this house. There was no policy posted on our group to comment on. Thank you.
- 27 August 2026, 02:53:21
Thank you Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker I rise in terms of Rule 72. Madam Speaker it's actually shocking that a councilor can stand up here and say another party has not lost members in this house during this term when we have.
- 27 August 2026, 02:56:12
Thank you Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker I rise in terms of Rule 72. Point of information. Madam Speaker there is at no point that I ever said that the DA is against this policy.
- 26 August 2026, 02:52:45
Madam Speaker, I'm asking you today to please not be biased against the DA. That's my first request. Rule 72, the Deputy Mayor must not mislead the House. The DA did not dissolve the disciplinary board. We actually brought a financial misconduct board when Dr. Phalatse was in government.
- 26 August 2026, 03:51:34
I'm calling a point of order on the councillor who's on the podium now. Madam Speaker, you have And based on Rule 72, firstly he must withdraw "clowns", because I don't see any clowns in this chamber, one. Two, this is the fourth council where this councillor is speaking and he is insulting everybody and using isiZulu to insult people, and you have not fined him, nor have you chucked him out of the house. So you are biased, Madam Speaker.
- 26 August 2026, 04:48:50
Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, decorum again. It seems that Speaker, you can hear decorum. I'm being shouted at in the while I'm speaking to you, Speaker. Speaker, in terms of Rule 72, we spoke about decorum. This is now in
- 26 August 2026, 04:49:10
In terms of Rule 72 Madam Speaker, point of order.
- 26 August 2026, 04:49:29
In terms of Rule 72(1) Madam Speaker, I did say it, unfortunately you didn't hear it because there was howling from the other side. Madam Speaker, we're talking about decorum and processes of council. You just warned the councillor who's speaking now about bringing this house down, he's continuing. Councillor Mzolo
- 26 August 2026, 07:43:30
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I rise in terms of Rule 72. Madam Speaker, um it's not against you, uh MMC, through you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I'm just concerned. I thought that when the MMC would have started, she would have started from a legal side, and maybe legal can advise us. This house has passed a resolution in the previous term that there shall be no sale of properties in the city, brought by the EFF. Should we not be rescinding that first before we can move forward in terms of sales of properties? Thank you.
- 25 June 2026, 06:33:13
I'm rising on Rule 72. The councillor is referring to ActionSA councillors as delusional 44 or 43, and I don't know why is he referring us like that. And I want us to ensure that this councillor understands the decorum of the house, and he needs to withdraw that. This is the councillor who has been rejected by his community because he is not serving the people. So we want him to withdraw. We want him to
- 25 June 2026, 06:34:13
Thank you, Speaker. I rise on Rule 72.
- 25 June 2026, 06:40:43
Rule 72, Rule 72, Madam Speaker, and he must not mislead this house. He must respond to the Minister of Finance that wants a response by Friday.
- 25 June 2026, 06:42:46
Speaker, I stand on Rule 72.
- 25 June 2026, 06:45:42
Madam Speaker, you know, you are the custodian of the rules in this house, and I'm rising on Rule 72, and I'm also just saying this to you: that we need to keep the decorum of this house, and you, as the custodian of the rules, is very responsible for that. We cannot have a situation where a
- 28 May 2026, 01:34:16
Morning, Madam Speaker, and I'd like to call a point of order, Rule 72.