THE ANC has succeeded in nullifying an attempt by the DA to seize power in the embattled Bitou municipality.
Yesterday morning, acting Judge Mohamed Salie signed an order to interdict the DA’s Bill Nel from holding the position of executive mayor along with the Active United Front’s (AUF) Peter Lobese as speaker. This follows a series of meetings said to have taken place from May 19 to 21, where Nel was elected as mayor unseating the ANC’s Sandiso Gcabayi who had been acting in the position after Lobese as mayor was ousted through a motion of no confidence in April.
A slew of other motions saw the speaker, Euan Wildermanm also replaced.
The ANC, along with the municipality, approached the courts on June 2, to seek an order after two parallel structures – each with a mayor, a deputy mayor and a speaker – emerged in the municipality, both claiming to be in control.
Following lengthy negotiations between lawyers representing both sides, a settlement was agreed. It toppled the DA’s brief control of the council.
The order has instructed council to convene a meeting on June 8 with the priority of electing a new mayor.
In a statement, Gcabayi in his capacity as acting mayor said the council welcomed the judgment.
“The effect of this judgment is that all the purported decisions of Councillor Nel and his cohorts including those of Councillor Lobese are null and void. This also renders their instructions to the council administration unlawful,” he said.
“The court has set aside the unlawful decisions of DA and AUF councillors taken during various ‘council’ meetings they purported to have held between May 19-21, 2021. This includes setting aside the motion of no confidence against me and the speaker of council.
“Our intentions as council led by the ANC is to ensure both administrative and legislative integrity, hence we could not allow the taking over of the municipality by stealth and illegal means.”
Nel said they were disappointed in the judgment given how their legal representatives were not given an opportunity to argue the merits of the case and forced into a settlement.
“No decision was taken on the merits of the case, instead council on both sides were coerced to come to a settlement which was not ideal for both the ANC and the DA,” he added.
“In terms of the agreements, there is to be a meeting on the 8th to elect a new mayor, another meeting will have to be convened where the motions of no confidence vote against the deputy mayor and the speaker will have to be addressed before we can move on to other matters on the agenda.
“Right now the council has the deputy mayor acting as the executive mayor, something we still do not accept.”
Weekend Argus