Africa-Press – South-Africa. As Mpho Phalatse is reinstated as the executive mayor of Johannesburg, the ANC-led opposition is confident the reversal won’t stand for long.
On Tuesday, Judge Raylene Keightley ruled in favour of Phalatse in an application to have a motion of no confidence declared unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid.
In the ruling, the judge found that the Speaker, Colleen Makhubele, had acted unlawfully, and contrary to the prescripts of the Constitution and the Rules in refusing to permit DA councillors to speak at the extraordinary council sitting.
“She acted unlawfully … in refusing to consider their request for a caucus break; and for refusing to permit them to object to or to vote against the motion of no confidence. It follows that she also acted unlawfully in treating the motion as being unopposed. Her conclusion that it was unopposed, and hence to refuse to permit any debate on the motion, was fatally tainted with illegality through her unlawful refusal to permit DA councillors to participate in the proceedings of the council.”
Phalatse said the judgment should act as a warning to politicians across the country, “who will do anything, even undermine the law, to grab power for the sake of accessing resources, instead of doing the work of delivering quality services to residents”.
“The residents of the country’s economic capital deserve a capable and stable government that will repair and rebuild Joburg.”
She said the reinstated government would review all decisions made by the ANC-led opposition government, “especially those that sought to facilitate corrupt acts in the city”.
“This is indeed a victory, a victory around the rule of law, the residents of Joburg and their service delivery needs.”
In a press release, she said an emergency meeting would be called to reinstate the mayoral committee, which had fallen away when Dada Morero took office.
Morero said the former leaders and the Speaker were in consultation with lawyers, and that they would respond after the discussion.
The national chairperson of ActionSA, Michael Beaumont, welcomed the judgment as “an important correction of an unlawful process followed by the ANC to remove the coalition government”.
Beaumont, however, added that it did not change the “dynamics of instability” which had led to the collapse.
“This leaves the ball squarely in the DA’s court to demonstrate their commitment to multiparty coalitions providing an alternative to failed ANC governance.”
He warned that the return of the DA-led government could last a day or a week, or it could last the full four years.
Beaumont said:
ActionSA committed itself to discussions that “lead to our multiparty coalition government being able to sustain itself over the next four years in order for improved service delivery and institutional changes to take effect in Johannesburg”.
Thapelo Amad, the former MMC for Development Planning, under the Morero leadership, said the Al Jama-ah party accepted the court ruling.
“We, as the former government, do not have an appetite to drag the judiciary into council processes or into a political arena.
“We welcomed the judgment from the judiciary, but because we understand where we are, we still have those numbers [the majority vote in the council].
“We are going to convene to issue notice of 72 hours for programming to sit, and from there we will issue a notice for council to sit in a special council meeting for next week.
“We have taken a position to fight our battles in council, not elsewhere, because, as councillors, council is the highest decision-making body for all of us and that is our shadow-boxing ring.
“So, we are still confident that, come next week Friday, Mpho Phalatse will be the former executive mayor of the City of Johannesburg.”
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