The ANC on the West Rand once again wishes to express its satisfaction with the High Court’s decision to strike a matter brought by the DA against the Speaker of Mogale City Council, Naga Lipudi and the municipality over council rules, off the court roll.
A statement released by the Media Liaison Officer of the ANC West Rand states that they had the same situation in December 2016, when they challenged these rules but withdrew their case.
“The DA was ordered to pay our costs because they did not envisage success against the watertight defence we had prepared. The court struck the DA matter off the roll today because of lack of urgency. Again the DA failed to convince the court of their case. It should be stated that the rules questioned by the DA are the same ones that established the current council and by which two DA mayors were elected in the short spell of eight months since the new political term of office.”
Furthermore, the statement reads that the ANC reiterates its position that the people of Mogale City deserve better than the games the DA is playing in court, which it seeks to use to win political and governance battles it loses in the Council Chambers.
“We have vowed to ensure that the municipality remains on the positive trajectory that the coalition inherited. Our efforts are constantly thwarted by the blatant disregard for the laws governing municipalities by the coalition; acts of malicious compliance in respect of public participation over such important processes as IDPs and budgets; failure to meet statutory requirements set by the Treasury and other government departments which threaten us with loss of national and provincial grants for housing development and infrastructure investment in the city. The deterioration of service delivery standards in the city is a major concern for the ANC.”
The ANC is still weighing options by which it can save the declining municipality from mismanagement by the coalition party.
The News has approached the local DA for a response to the ANC statement and is awaiting their feedback.
Read more:
ANC and DA West Rand at each others’ throats
ANC rejects DA claims about dysfunctional municipality
Dysfunctional municipality impacts negatively on service delivery
Tax-payers on West Rand paying for mismanagement
