Cape Town - A group of Khayelitsha residents have joined forces with the Social Justice Coalition in a fight over poor sanitation which is expected to take centre stage in the Western Cape High Court later this year.
The SJC confirmed it had last Friday, together with five co-applicants, lodged legal papers at the High Court and Equality Court against the city council.
At the same time, the DA is planning court action against some Khayelitsha residents, whom the party has accused of disrupting an event on Tuesday by threatening to hurl chairs at those who were present, which included party leader Mmusi Maimane.
On Thursday, the party lodged a formal charge and complaint against the ANC with the Independent Electoral Commission for allegedly breaching the electoral code.
In an affidavit, which has been obtained by the Cape Argus, the DA accuses the ANC of “purposefully” disrupting the party's right to campaign “in a manner that ensures free and fair elections”.
Maimane and provincial party leader Patricia de Lille were in Khayelitsha on Tuesday to introduce two of its ward councillors to the community.
However, according to SJC general secretary Phumza Mlugwana, it is a community the DA does not care about.
Mlungwana said the issue of the council providing better sanitation to Khayelitsha residents had been thorny for more than a decade.
“They always have excuses and we know they will bring up budget constraints, but you must understand, there are some residents who have been living in Khayelitsha for more than 15 years,” Mlungwana said, adding the CT-Section and Enkanini informal settlements were “some of the oldest informal settlements in Cape Town”.
On Wednesday, the council confirmed it was reviewing the SJC’s case against the municipality.
Meanwhile, ANC provincial executive committee spokesman Jabu Mfusi said the party had distanced itself from Tuesday's incident in Khayelitsha.
“We are not drunk! We don’t just wake up in the morning and go and disrupt DA events.
“We respect and will adhere to the IEC code of conduct,” he said.
Cape Argus