The High Court in Pretoria has set aside a decision by the Gauteng provincial government to place the City of Tshwane Metro under administration.
The High Court has ruled that the decision was invalid and should be set aside and reviewed.
Gauteng Premier David Makhura last month placed the metro under administration citing lack of political will to run the city as well as failing to render the necessary services to the people of Tshwane.
In the video below, Makhura says the majority of Tshwane residents welcomed news of the metro being placed under administration:
This prompted the DA to approach the High Court, arguing that Makhura and MEC for Cogta, Lebogang Maile used their political muscle to effect the decision.
The provincial government has since appointed Mpho Nawa and 11 other administrators to oversee the running of the metro.
According to the High Court ruling, the much-awaited by-election will no longer take place.
DA’s Gauteng Provincial Chairperson Mike Moriaty says they always expected victory.
Moriaty says the DA is now looking forward to appointing a new mayor.
“We are very happy and the council now needs to know when to meet and elect the new mayor.”
Moriaty says all resources will now be redirected to enhancing service delivery to resume with the administration.
“It’s been chaos. And now the DA has won against the decision by the provincial government. This shows democracy for the people of Tshwane.”
“The millions of rands aimed for the by-elections will go into ensuring service delivery. The main focus will be on water and power supply, as well as grass cutting.”
According to the ruling, the appointed administrator and his team will remain in their positions.
Moriaty says they’re prepared to cooperate with the administrator to ensure adequate services are delivered to the people of Tshwane.
“Yes obviously, since the five weeks of the appointment of the administrator a lot of work has been done. So, we will work with him for some time until we table the necessary report.”
Meanwhile, the ANC in the Tshwane region says it will study the judgment and decides on a way forward.
The EFF had at the time accepted the decision by the Gauteng government to place Tshwane under administration. A number of administrative and service delivery challenges were also sighted including unauthorized and irregular expenditure, as well as the current financial crisis.
EFF leader Julius Malema said at the time he hoped there would be a proper government in Tshwane after the by-elections.
“Sometimes we find ourselves in this situation which is not of our own making. It has been made by the electorate itself. We hope that when we come back from elections, there will be a proper government that will receive a proper mandate from the people of Tshwane.”
