DA says DBNLM is defying the law

GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - The DA has called for an urgent special council meeting to elect a new mayor and chief whip and to deal with the unlawful budget in order to stabilise the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality (DBNLM).

In a media statement issued by DA EC Shadow MEC for CoGTA, Vicky Knoetze, titled: Dr Beyers Naudé municipality goes rogue, calls for an illegal 'tools down' strike, Knoetze states that municipal officials, including the municipal manager, Dr Edward Rankwana, have allegedly called on municipal employees to down tools.

These events come in the wake of the High Court ruling in Makhanda on 12 July that set aside the unlawful election of the mayor and chief whip, as well as the unlawful adoption of the budget, by the ANC and Compatriots of South Africa (CSA).

The legal proceedings were brought by the DA against the DBNLM and others, including the EC MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Xolile Nqatha.

According to Knoetze they have asked the MEC to ensure that a special council meeting was called before the end of last week. This did not happen, but Graaff-Reinet Advertiser has been informed that a council meeting has been called for today, Thursday, 21 July.

No official notice about the meeting has been received by the paper.

DBNLM 'defying the law'

In response to the alleged illegal "tools down" strike, Knoetze stated: "This rogue municipality has not just broken the law, it is now defying the law, and this open defiance of the rule of law cannot be tolerate. The actions of the municipal manager show there is a clear political alignment. Instead of calling for a special council meeting, he is allegedly calling for instability, to the detriment of the residents."

Knoetze says the DA has written to the MEC to call for his intervention, in the spirit of upholding the rule of law, in safeguarding the municipality against instability and preventing disrupted service delivery.

"It is of critical importance that service delivery is not hampered in any way during this period. The municipality must continue to deliver on its mandate to ensure that the people in the DBNLM receive the services they are entitled to."

Knoetze said the DA also requested Nqatha to anticipate and consider a recommendation for a section 193 Constitutional intervention from the newly elected mayor.

"Since the municipal budget was set aside by the court order and the new financial year has commenced, section 55 of the Municipal Finance Management Act takes effect, in terms of which the newly elected mayor must approach the MEC to make a recommendation in terms of section 139 of the Constitution for intervention by the province," she said.

Section 139 (4) of the Constitution empowers the provincial executive to intervene in a municipality if the municipality fails to fulfil its obligation in terms of the Constitution or legislation to approve a budget or any measures necessary to give effect to the budget.

Doubts about term

It has been reported by TimesLive senior political reporter, Siyamtanda Capa, that MEC Nqatha is not convinced that the instability in the DBNLM council can be resolved and for this reason he is doubtful that council will finish its term.

"Based on the political instability we may have to go for a rerun of the elections to see if a different picture emerges," said Nqatha in the TimesLive report.

The ANC and CSA failed to respond to Graaff-Reinet Advertiser's previous request for comment on, inter alia, the High Court ruling and the alleged illegal "tools down" strike.

Hans Hendricks, Chief Operations Officer for DBNLM, notified Graaff-Reinet Advertiser that they will comment upon receipt of the signed court order as they were not completely conversant with the contents thereof at the time. No comment has been received.

Another request for comment has been submitted to the ANC, CSA and DBNLM and will be published if and when received.

DA EC Shadow MECVicky Knoetze