Judgment in the Tshwane regional African National Congress‘ (ANC) bid to have the vote of no confidence against Mayor Solly Msimanga, held by a secret ballot has been reserved in the High Court in Pretoria north.
The party has appealed to overturn a decision by the city council’s Speaker which ruled that a motion of no-confidence against the Mayor be held through a show of hands.
The battle to unseat the city mayor rages on. The ANC wants a vote of no confidence against him held in secret. However in September the Speaker thwarted the plan, ruling that it be by an open show of hands.
The ANC then approached the court. “The ANC is very confident, we have put up a strong case, we have looked at a lot of case law to prepare for this and make sure that the case at the end of the day is successful. So the ANC is very confident and we are sure we are going to come in victory,” says Tshwane ANC Chairperson Dr Kgoshi Maepa.
The municipality remains adamant that the speaker acted within the pre-scripts of the by-laws and council rules. “We do believe that we will be successful and we do maintain that this court application is frivolous – on its face and we would like the court to provide us with the final legal determination of the validity and foundational integrity of this application,” the Mayor’s spokesperson Samkelo Mgobozi said.
At the centre of the controversy remains the GladAfrica scandal. The opposition party alleges that the city manager explained it in an affidavit in their possession and that the Mayor knew about it in May last year.
Judgement is reserved.
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