Tshwane Municipal Speaker Katlego Mathebe says the council hasn’t heard anything from the MEC of Cooperative Government Lebogang Maile since the ruling of the Supreme Court of Appeal on Tuesday supporting the High Court in Pretoria’s judgment saying the dissolution of the council was illegal.
Mathebe says Friday will be the first council meeting in eight months since the capital city was placed under administration. She says the decision by Maile to place the city under administration was not justified.
“I have said that time already that putting us under administration was unjustifiable. However, they are spheres of government and they have their own responsibilities and I respect the fact that they thought it was best for the city to be put under administration. And also the cost involved is the cost that the Gauteng government is carrying and not the city. And as to whether it was justifiable or not in my opinion it wasn’t.”
This follows three months of political battles over the control of the city in March this year, as the ANC and EFF failing in their bid to unseat the DA using a motion of no confidence.
DA appointed former Tshwane Mayor Steven Mokgalapa resigned after he was accused of misconduct following, what has been dubbed as “sex in the city”: a leaked audio recording that went viral on social media.
The entire executive, which served under Mokgalapa, was automatically dissolved when he left office.
The EFF in Tshwane tabled a motion of no confidence against Mokgalapa, which succeeded with 111 votes.
The DA called the process illegal and took the matter to court.
The court ruled that Mokgalapa was not rightfully removed and he returned to his position as Mayor of the municipality. He then announced his intention to resign at the end of February.
