EFF rally dispute now revolves around costs

30/04/2014 EFF Commandor in Chief Julius Malema addresses the community of Itereleng and his supporters ahead of the upcoming national elections. Picture: Phill Magakoe

30/04/2014 EFF Commandor in Chief Julius Malema addresses the community of Itereleng and his supporters ahead of the upcoming national elections. Picture: Phill Magakoe

Published May 2, 2014

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Pretoria - The mudslinging between the Economic Freedom Fighters Fighters (EFF) and Tshwane regarding the use of the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville for a political rally on Sunday continues.

EFF attorney Andries Nkome on Thursday disputed some of the claims made by the City of Tshwane in the wrangling between the two parties. The EFF took the city council to court after it cancelled a provisional agreement concluded with the party on April 23 for the hiring of the stadium in Atteridgeville for its final pre-election rally, Tshela Thupa, on May 4.

Tshwane claimed the court referred the matter to internal structures, arguing these had not been fully exhausted. However, Nkome said it was not correct that the judge considered the merits of the matter.

He said the municipality capitulated and withdrew its cancellation of the permission it gave the EFF to hold the rally.

“In court, when a party loses, it loses with costs and the issue of the scale of costs that the municipality must pay the EFF was postponed to a later date,” said Nkome.

“The municipality, in its own words, ‘cancelled its cancellation’. Who ever reported on the municipality’s behalf about what transpired in court was either not in court or is deliberately misleading the public.”

Nkome added that the Tshela Thupa rally would be held in the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville and that everyone was invited.

Tshwane provisionally approved the hiring of the stadium, but reneged on the agreement, arguing that the stadium would be undergoing maintenance.

The city wants the EFF to present a full event plan to a special events joint operations committee by 10am on Friday or risk disqualifying itself from the holding the rally at Lucas Moripe.

According to Tshwane spokesman Blessing Manale, the party failed to attend a committee meeting organised for that purpose.

Should the matter not be resolved, Manale said the city would ask the court to hold the EFF in contempt by propagating public defiance of the process ruled by the high court.

The EFF, meanwhile, has said it complied with all the requirements and participated in the meeting, at which it was agreed that the engineering certificate for the construction of the stage and sound, the security plan and the public liability certificate would be submitted on Sunday morning before the event.

Pretoria News

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