Litigation has become standard practice in Standerton and the common denominator is the Lekwa Municipality.
The Civic Voice’s application for an interim interdict against the reinstatement of the mayor and speaker of the municipality was heard in the High Court in Middelburg on 7 July.
Mr Linda Dhlamini and Ms Makhosazana Khota were removed from office on 10 February after the DA’s motion of no confidence succeeded and the ANC subsequently facilitated their return to office.
The Civic Voice cited the MEC of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), the head of the department, Lekwa Municipality, the Municipal Manager, the speaker, the mayor, the ANC, the DA and the Economic Freedom Fighters as respondents.
According to information received, the Mpumalanga State Attorney will represent the MEC of CoGTA in opposing the intention.
A trustworthy source indicated that the speaker and mayor called a special council meeting for 6 July and wanted council to consider defending them in the court matter.
They also want the community to defend them. A majority of council members voted for the removal of the mayor and speaker.
In a judgment of 8 July an Acting Judge of the High Court, Mr HF Brauckman, ordered the application to be struck from the roll and the applicant to pay the wasted costs.
The court will, if the matter is enrolled, hear the review application and not the attempt at interdictory relief.
Back to the community, Lekwa Ratepayers Association has been discussing different angles of approaching the court in their case against the municipality.
The association has expressed its dissatisfaction with service delivery as well as the skyrocketing Eskom-debt.
They have requested the community to contribute to legal costs and one of the press releases said an amount of R200 000 can be reached.
According to them, the legal team is hard at work to ensure their approach is spot on.
“We cannot guarantee success in court, but what we can guarantee, is that we will bring the most thorough, dedicated effort to the party,” one of their statements read.
DA-councillor, Mr Louis Jansen van Rensburg, issued a press release on 8 July, saying the municipality makes use of lawyers that do not come from Standerton.
Mr Van Renburg illustrated the point by referring to an attorney from Nelspruit, Mr Silinda Moekoena, who was used in 2008 for the valuations of properties for Standerton.
According to the press release, there are still disputes which emanated from those valuations and new valuations had to be done at the expense of the ratepayer.
Another example was payments of R1,8-million to Gildenhuys Malatji and R7,5-million to Mohlala Attorneys from Ermelo.
According to Mr Van Rensburg, there are also payments of R1,2-million for Maliseha Attorneys from Johannesburg.
He concluded by saying the DA will write to the Municipal Manager, Ms Gugulethu Ntshangase, asking why they do not grow its economy by using Lekwa businesses.
Also read: Civic Voice applies for interim interdict against mayor and speaker
