Africa-Press – South-Africa. Three axed DA members have turned to the courts to challenge the party’s move to terminate their membership.
The party’s federal chairperson, Helen Zille, informed former Swellendam Municipality Speaker Bongani Sonqwenqwe, deputy mayor Abraham Pokwas and councillor Gcobisa Mangcu-Qotyiwe about their suspension in December.
The trio claimed they were suspended because they did not abide by a caucus decision to hold back on advertising the position of director for corporate services in the municipality.
Last Friday, they filed court papers in the Western Cape High Court to challenge the termination of their membership from the DA.
The axed members say they want to be reinstated as councillors.
Pokwas argues in an affidavit, also on behalf of the other two members, that the party did not provide them with an opportunity to make representations in respect of the allegations levelled against them.
“Not only does this constitute clear evidence of a material breach of fundamental principles of natural justice, but also demonstrates the potential for abuse of a cessation clause which allows the party to terminate party membership without a fair hearing and no transparency,” Pokwas said in his affidavit.
They are challenging the constitutionality of the DA’s cessation clause and seeking to declare the DA’s federal constitution invalid and inconsistent with the Constitution.
They added, in court papers, that the abrupt loss of employment would affect their ability to cover expenses such as school fees.
While they were no longer office-bearers at the municipality, municipal manager Anneleen Vorster declared the positions vacant to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) in December.
Last month, Juan van Schalkwyk of the FF Plus was sworn in as the new speaker of the municipality along with DA councillors Agnes Bokwana and David Julius.
In their court papers, the trio also cited the IEC as a respondent and wants the court to be interdicted from holding a by-election in the municipality to fill the vacancies.
Zille previously said the trio had violated the DA’s constitution.
“No one was terminated. They cessated their membership by violating key clauses in the DA’s constitution, which mean immediate cessation,” she said at the time.
Meanwhile, the DA’s Richard Newton said the party intended to oppose the matter.
The party has been given until Friday to file answering papers.
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