DURBAN - THE Nquthu mayor has called for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC Sipho Hlomuka to pay the legal costs should the department lose its case against the municipality.
The municipality and Cogta will square up in the Pietermaritzburg High Court in the space of weeks. IFP mayor Lindokuhle Shabalala was reacting to Cogta’s decision to place Nquthu under administration which the municipality said it would challenge.
KZN Cogta had taken this decision in January only for it to be reversed by Cogta Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma who, according to Shabalala, had found the decision irrational.
Shabalala told the Daily News on Sunday that the municipality would ask the court, when filing its application, for the MEC to pay from his pocket should he lose because the MEC was making frivolous decisions which were costing the taxpayers money.
“Hlomuka is playing cheap politics in Nquthu. He is abusing his power for his party's political gain as we approach local government elections but he is not above the law and not above the Cogta minister. We wonder whether he consulted with her before making this decision,” said Shabalala.
There were no new grounds for Hlomuka’s decision, he said, except that he was reacting to a commotion where ANC councillors were seen in a video being forcefully removed from a council meeting because they were misbehaving.
He said this incident did not warrant Hlomuka placing the municipality under administration. “For the MEC to strip the council of its powers through section 139 (1) b, the council and committees must have failed to meet on several occasions which had never happened in Nquthu. Hlomuka would lose the case in court because he was flouting standing rules for holding special council meetings.”
Cogta provincial spokesperson Senzo Mzila said the MEC’s decision to place the municipality under administration still stood until the court stated otherwise. He said Hlomuka had clearly outlined the reasons behind the decision to place Nquthu municipality under administration. One of the reasons, he said, was because the municipality received a disclaimer in the Auditor General’s report.
Cogta and the municipality have been in and out of court. Cogta took the municipality to court for electing Shabalala as mayor in March last year.
Daily News