Judgment has been reserved in the court application brought by former Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse to the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg.
She is challenging her removal as City mayor during a motion of no confidence vote held on 30 September. African National Congress councillor Dada Morero has since been elected in her place.
Phalatse holds that the council meeting which voted her out of office was unlawful as the notice period of the Programming Committee, on 29 September, calling for its meeting was too short, and that one Democratic Alliance councillor received the notice of the meeting when it had already started.
The lawyer for Speaker of the City of Johannesburg, Colleen Makhubele, argues that the Speaker was within her right to convene the Extraordinary Meeting of Council in which Phalatse was voted.
Speaking after the court adjourned, Phalatse expressed confidence that she would be back in the mayoral office.
“I think we have a very strong case, listening to both arguments I think we have a very strong case. Judgment has been reserved – we will wait and see. But I am optimistic, I will be back in my office soon and continue with the work of rebuilding the city,” states the former mayor who was supported by former MMC Michael Sun.
Judgement has been reserved in the South Gauteng High Court. #HandsOffJoburg pic.twitter.com/ap92cYZJip
— Executive Mayor Mpho Phalatse (@mphophalatse1) October 19, 2022
Meanwhile, the lawyer for the Speaker of the City, Advocate Terry Motau, says the vote of no confidence vote removing DA councillor Mpho Phalatse was democracy in action.
Advocate Motau says the motion of no confidence vote was passed with 139 votes out of a total of 145 councillors who were properly in attendance. He says this signifies that the motion to remove Phalatse was passed by an overwhelming majority of councillors.
He states that the outcome signifies councillors voting with their conscience.
The speaker of council was criticised by Phalatse’s lawyer for allowing a meeting of the Programming Committee to sit when it did not form a quorum. Advocate Motau says there exists a WhatsApp text message allegedly from the DA’s Helen Zille giving an instruction that the quorum be broken. He says the decision by some members not to attend the meeting is consistent with this strategy.
The court proceedings come as the DA is calling for coalitions to be legislated. The party intends to introduce legislation to parliament for this purpose.
