Craig Kotze

ELM councillors of all parties now face the possibility they could in their personal capacity carry the large costs of the Labour Court action in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, on Tuesday, but the court has not yet made a decision on costs.

The outcome was also hailed by Executive Mayor Gift Moerane as a victory for constitutional democracy – Moerane did not oppose the court action by his subordinate, Municipal Manager Lucky Leseane. The Labour Court ordered that Municipal Manager Lucky Leseane immediately return to work thus effectively ending his illegal “suspension” by ELM Council, led by Speaker Maipato “Chu Chu Shoes” Tsokolibane.

The Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce (GTCoC) said the main focus should now be dealing with the present crippling service delivery crisis in Emfuleni and to mobilise resources to that end.

In the past few days service delivery challenges in Emfuleni have intensified along with debt issues from Eskom and Rand Water, which has reduced water pressure to Emfuleni. Over the weekend, a protest over power black-outs by residents outside Executive Mayor Gift Moerane’s home in Riverspray, Vanderbijlpark turned violent and police reportedly fired shots and used stun grenades to control the situation.

The court outcome is also a crushing political defeat for Tsokolibane and her faction of councillors and cabal of senior ELM Managers who have been actively resisting Leseane’s clean-up attempts at the municipality.

ELM Executive Mayor Gift Moerane did not oppose in court and ultimately a settlement was reached  between the parties involved. However, a crucial milestone still ahead is when the court rules on the costs, which could lead to councillors paying directly for Leseane’s legal costs.

However, Leseane declined to comment when approached.

GTCoC CEO Klippies Kritzinger said that consequence management must also be applied to politicians, councillors and officials who had tried to take over the functions and budget access of the Municipal Manager.

“The Speaker and her cabal of councillors and officials have hurt the people and businesses of Emfuleni severely because they deliberately created  confusion on the role of  the Municipal Manager when governance and service delivery crises are piling up.

“Councillors must pay for their reckless behaviour in every sense and for the fact that they waste ratepayers money in a futile legal attempt to save face against  Leseane in court. What kind of legal advice were they receiving anyway and was it paid for with ratepayers money? ” said Kritzinger.