The Lekwa Council convened on 29 January and proceedings only began after the earlier EFF protest stopped.
The singing and chanting outside the municipal offices disrupted the meeting for more than an hour.
The Standerton Advertiser decided to attend the open meeting.
The Eskom repayment plan and proposed power cuts however, were not on the agenda as the DA chief whip, Mr Rosier de Ville, pointed out.
The speaker, Ms Harriet Khota, apologised that the meeting was postponed, but the opposition party voiced its concern, emphasising that rules must be adhered to where seven days notification is required.
Mr De Ville asked why their submitted questions were not included on the agenda and the absence of the mayor, Mr Linda Dhlamini, was supplied as rationale.
Mr Louis Jansen van Renburg, also of the DA, noted that it was the fourth meeting where questions were not answered and agreed with Mr De Ville.
It was noted after discussion that the DA’s questions will be answered.
Mr Sipho Gumede, PAC councillor, though not in attendance, also said their questions were not included on the agenda.
Mr Pierre Schnetler, caucus leader of the DA, pulled no punches when he said the municipality is bankrupt, owing about R424-million.
“It is quite simple.
“Get the political will to be of service to the people of Lekwa.”
When discussing the Eskom debacle, the DA proposed that the municipality be put under administration after Mr De Ville reiterated that the party informed council that the Eskom repayment plan would not be feasible.
“You can’t wish this thing away,” Mr De Ville said.
Mr De Ville’s legal background came to the fore when he spoke about the municipality’s court cases where the Hayes Matkovich Development (Pty) Ltd vs Lekwa Municipality court case is costing millions of rands.
Read the complete article in next week’s edition of the Standerton Advertiser.
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