Dept wins court case

THE North Gauteng high court ruled in favour of the department of cooperative governance, human settlement and traditional affairs (Coghsta) to put the Mogalakwena Municipality under administration according to Section 139 (1) b of the Constitution.

Last month, the Mogalakwena Residents’ Association obtained an interdict from the court to stop Coghsta MEC, Ishmael Kgetjepe, from putting the municipality under administration.

Coghsta spokesperson, Selomo Motupa, said the department welcomed the court ruling because they believed it would help address the challenges that the Mogalakwena Municipality faced. He said the ruling meant that the municipality was now effectively under Section 139 (1) of the Constitution.

“Last month, the MEC appointed Dikgape Herskovits Makobe as administrator of Mogalakwena Municipality. Makobe is not new to this sphere of government. His experience will help him address all the problems that the municipality faces,” he said.

Motupa said Makobe was appointed as administrator for a period of six months and that his appointment was subject to the terms and conditions of the service level agreement between him and Coghsta. According to Motupa, his duties would include taking over all fiscal and financial management functions at the municipality.

He had to ensure all the provisions for the municipality as set out by the provincial executive were realised and he had to advise the council on all policy matters in respect of development and implementation of council programmes and plans.

He said Makobe had to review all systems and policies in place at the municipality and make the necessary changes to ensure these policies were in line with legislation.

“He also had to undertake to develop a turnaround strategy for the municipality in terms of Section 54(a) and 56 of the Municipal Systems Act,” Motupa said.

This meant he had to implement a system to control and approve all expenditure and ensure the correct implementation of the Municipal Property Rates Act.

“The administrator will report on the performance of the municipality to the MEC of Coghsta in writing every month. We look forward to working closely with Makobe,” Motupa said.

Motupa said the department would like to thank the community of Mogalakwena for their patience in the troubling times that preceded the appointment of Makobe. “We hope all stakeholders will offer Makobe the cooperation he needs to stabilise the affairs of the Mogalakwena Municipality.”

Spokesperson for the Mogalakwena Residents’ Association, Piet Pale said the fact that the judge put aside their interdict did not mean they would stand for Kgetjepe putting the municipality under administration.

He said a local advocate was working on a document that would show how residents would suffer, should the municipality be put under administration.

Pale said the department had to convene a meeting with the community and introduce the new administrator to residents before they could just swoop in and take over.

He insisted that the Mogalakwena Municipality need not be put under administration.