High Court rules against municipality
The interdict Thaba Chweu Municipality (TCM) obtained from the High Court on November 16, 2015 to prevent the auction of its seized assets, was overturned and the court ruled that TCM would now have to pay all legal costs associated with the judgement.
LYDENBURG – The interdict Thaba Chweu Municipality (TCM) obtained from the High Court on November 16, 2015 to prevent the auction of its seized assets, was overturned and the court ruled that TCM would now have to pay all legal costs associated with the judgement.
The lawyer for the eight respondents in the cases against TCM, Mr Derick Herholdt, told the newspaper on Tuesday that this was proof that you could take on the municipality.
“All the things TCM tried to prevent the sale of their assets have failed. All their interdicts in the Magistrate’s Court were dismissed and now the High Court interdict has also been rejected,” he said.
Herholdt confirmed TCM’s assets would once again be seized to settle outstanding debts. He added that he had some 50 cases against TCM amounting to about R300 000 on cost orders only.
Judge, Mr Frans Lekgodi, rejected the interdict and told Herholdt, and the lawyers of TCM, Macbeth Attorneys, to discuss the legal costs involved in the matter.
“We couldn’t agree on the settlement of the costs and Lekgodi ordered that the costs be paid by TCM which amounts to about R40 000.”He said that no appeal had been lodged. “It is an expensive game that will cost TCM a lot of money.”
Chaos erupted at TCM last year when the sheriff seized assets to the value of R295 000.
The items, which included two bakkies, 21 computers and office equipment, were auctioned on February 24, 2015.
At the auction, however, ghost buyers of TCM bought back all the computers and both bakkies for R350 000. TCM therefore paid R60 000 more to buy back the goods and were given half an hour to transfer the funds electronically to the sheriff’s account. The goods were taken back to the municipality, but the sheriff never received the payment.
At that time TCM was still under the leadership of mayor,
Mr Michael Ncongwane, and acting municipal manager, Mr Surprise Maebela.
The newspaper spoke to the new acting municipal manager, Mr Lesley Mokoena, regarding the overturning of the interdict.
“TCM is aware of the situation and our legal team is on par with it. Our legal team will decide if we will pay the legal costs or if we are going to defend it. It is for the legal department to decide.
“The legal department has handled the situation well. You don’t find the sheriff playing here every day anymore. I have to say that some people have also been taking us for a ride for quite some time, but the legal team will handle it.
“They are working well with the sheriff. I don’t think it will be a problem. The problems we have experienced in the past are that we receive these legal issues and then it will not be attended to up until the last day. People obviously then get frustrated and give instructions to attach and remove.
“I believe that from now on, every legal issue will get attended to on time. We are on top of it,” he said.
