DA fears losing voters in Tshwane

The DA has followed through on its threat to take legal action against a decision made by the Gauteng government’s executive committee to place the City of Tshwane under administration.

While the ANC and the EFF welcomed this decision, the DA has questioned whether it was legal and whether the correct processes were taken in reaching it.

The DA also said it would fight for its survival in the municipality that it has led since the 2016 local elections.

“The [court] papers are being drafted. We have also written to the MEC as he has not followed the correct procedure,” DA interim leader John Steenhuisen told City Press.

In a letter sent on Thursday to Gauteng Premier David Makhura and the provincial MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs, Lebogang Maile, attorneys Minde Schapiro & Smith, acting for the DA, asked for confirmation on whether the intervention was made under the terms of section 139(1)(c) of the Constitution.

Linked to this question, they asked whether notices were sent to Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, as well as the Gauteng legislature and the National Council of Provinces.

The lawyers then requested that they be provided with copies of these notices.

They also asked whether an administrator had been appointed, saying that if this had happened, a copy of the notice – as required by section 35(2) of the Local Government Municipal Structures Act – should be forwarded to them.

They have also requested a copy of the resolution by the Gauteng executive committee, which decided to intervene because of the ongoing fracas.

In a second letter, also addressed to the premier and MEC, the lawyers requested that the Gauteng executive committee list the reasons that led to the decision to place the municipality under administration.

James Selfe, leader of the DA’s governance unit, told City Press that the party had not yet received a response.

James Selfe

The DA sought legal advice after Makhura had warned against “veiled threats of court action by leaders of a particular political party” when he announced that the metro would be placed under administration.

He said he would not be blackmailed into inaction.

The announcement was made on Thursday after six failed council meetings, all of which erupted in chaos and walkouts.

Makhura also highlighted issues of corruption, lack of service delivery and the flouting of procurement processes as pressing reasons for his decision.

The DA’s provincial chair for Gauteng, Mike Moriarty, told City Press that he believed the matter could have been resolved in another way, rather than dissolve council.

Calling the ANC’s refusal to attend meetings a power-grabbing strategy, he said the DA had been “subverted”.

Placing the municipality under administration means that the Tshwane municipal council will be dissolved and an administrator will be appointed to run the municipality until a new council is elected within 90 days.

Moriarty pointed to the possibility that the DA could lose seats if the council was dissolved and by-elections were held.

“We will have the greatest number of seats, but if the 2019 results are a trend, then fewer than we have currently. But the ANC will also have fewer seats. The parties that stand to gain on the 2019 results will be the EFF and the Freedom Front Plus,” he said.

The DA currently has 93 seats, the ANC 89, the EFF 25, the Freedom Front Plus four.

The African Christian Democratic Party, along with the Congress of the People and the Pan Africanist Party have one seat each.

Read: ‘The people must come first’ – why Tshwane is under administration

Moriarty said he had little faith in the ability of minority parties to lead, adding that it might worsen the situation in Tshwane and residents would be subjected to shoddy service delivery.

“The newcomers will take three to four months to find their feet. They will only have a few months to try to deliver anything before the 2021 elections. Clearly, the residents of Tshwane will be worse off than they are now,” he said.

Moriarty said the best solution was for the ANC to encourage its councillors to attend meetings so that a new mayor could be voted in, “even if it is their mayor”.

A notice has been sent to councillors, inviting them to a special sitting on Tuesday.

On the agenda is the election of a new mayor, the extension of Augustine Makgata’s service as acting municipal manager and the 2019/20 adjustment budget.

But the ANC’s caucus leader, Kgosi Maepa, has rejected the meeting, calling it an “illegal notice”.

The resignation of DA mayor Stevens Mokgalapa took effect last Wednesday.

A new mayor was not elected, leaving the city without leadership.

Makgata’s extension was supposed to have been agreed on last Friday, but there were not enough councillors to form a quorum and the vote did not go ahead.

Queenin Masaubi Political journalist | City Press

+27 11 713 9001 Queenin.Masuabi@citypress.co.za Media Park, 69 Kingsway Road, Auckland Park

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