JOHANNESBURG - The Democratic Alliance has submitted an urgent application to the High Court to suspend Gauteng human settlements, urban planning, and cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) MEC Lebogang Maile’s decision to suspend City of Tshwane speaker Katlego Mathebe and former City of Johannesburg speaker Vasco da Gama, the DA said on Saturday.
"The effect of the MEC’s decision is extreme, as it will affect democratically elected councillors from representing the voters who elected them," DA Gauteng chairman Mike Moriarty said.
The decision would not only prejudice the DA, but also the residents in both Tshwane and Johannesburg, he said.
"In the case of the speaker of Tshwane, the ANC [African National Congress] have already taken advantage of the situation to push forward their political agenda, and have called for the continuation of a special council sitting to carry through their motions of no confidence in the mayor, the speaker, the acting speaker, and the chair of chairs.
"As such, we will use whatever means available to ensure this does not happen. We will not allow MEC Maile to hijack the City of Tshwane, disregard the rule of law, and hold the residents of Joburg and Tshwane to ransom," Moriarty said.
Lebogang Maile
Vasco da Gama
In an earlier statement on Friday, DA leader John Steenhuisen condemned Maile's decision to suspend Da Gama for three months without pay, and Mathebe for six months.
According to Maile, the councillors breached the code of conduct as contained in the Municipal Systems Act, Schedule 1, and invoked item 14(6) which stated that the MEC may suspend or remove a councillor from office.
"This cannot be done without getting a council resolution. The DA will not give in to the bullying tactics of MEC Maile. We have instructed our lawyers to approach the courts on an urgent basis to review this illegal move. We have also written to the MEC to invite him to retract his unlawful decision, failing which we will apply for a personal and punitive cost order against Maile," he said.
Maile’s actions highlighted what South Africans already knew: that the ANC "is a self-serving organisation and only uses and abuses the law when it is beneficial to them".
When former Emfuleni mayor Simon Mofokeng was accused of spending more than R1.7 million of public money on KFC, Nandos, and hotels, he was not fired or suspended for misconduct. Moreover, the former mayor of eThekwini, Zandile Gumede, who had been implicated in fraud and corruption, was also not removed from office or suspended under clause 14(6). There were many such instances, including the new mayor of Johannesburg Geoff Makhubo.
"The ANC’s selective application of the law, applied only to DA councillors, shows its transparent hypocrisy and emphasises that they care not for residents, but rather for their own narrow interest to attain power at all costs," Steenhuisen said.