ANC returns DA’s ‘stolen’ Exco seat
The Exco seat became vacant after former Umdoni councillor Edwin Baptie was sworn in as a member of the KZN Provincial Legislature.
The Durban High Court recently set aside an unlawful decision by Umdoni Municipality to allocate an Executive Committee (Exco) seat meant for the DA, to a councillor of the ANC.
The Exco seat became vacant after former Umdoni councillor Edwin Baptie was sworn in as a member of the KZN Provincial Legislature.
After Baptie’s departure, he raised concerns about municipal manager Thabisile Ndlela’s unlawful grab of the DA Exco seat.
The DA in KZN welcomed the ruling of the seat being given to councillor Shamila Sookhraj.
DA KZN chairperson Dean Macpherson said the court ruled the municipality unlawfully gave a DA Exco seat to the ANC and by so doing violated the Municipal Structures Act, despite numerous warnings from the DA and its lawyers.
Macpherson said the judgment found that the ANC-aligned council led by the former mayor and the speaker, ignored the prescripts of the Municipal Structures Act.
“It should also be noted that the KZN provincial government ‘guided’ the council on how to deal with this vacancy and shows how it aided and abetted the unlawful decision. The most scathing part of the judgment by the High Court found that the municipal manager, Thabisile Ndlela, should be held personally liable for her costs as a direct result of the court finding that her conduct was ‘blatant and egregious’ – a clear instance of a deliberate neglect of constitutional duty. Such conduct is deserving of a personal censure,” he said, adding that the court ruling should serve as a deterrent and a reminder that the DA will not tolerate lawlessness in local governance.
He said they believe that their court victory sets the tone on the importance of clean governance and what happens when laws are violated by those driven by arrogance and the pursuit of their agenda above the basic needs of the people.
“The ANC’s desperation to cling to power has pushed it to a point of complete disregard for the laws of governance and is now simply driven by fear and panic,” said Macpherson.
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