The Makana and Ndlambe Local Municipalities are in the process of withdrawing their full lists of delegates, of all parties to the Sarah Baartman District Council which is Ultra Vires (beyond one’s legal power or authority) and smacks of political manipulation.
The DA has written to the MEC of COGTA, MEC Xolile Nqatha, stating that the activities taking place in the Makana and Ndlambe Local municipalities are Ultra Vires and highly irregular, and have requested his urgent investigation into this matter. The DA has further requested that appropriate action be taken as a matter of urgency.
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We will also be monitoring the IEC’s involvement in the process to ensure that they do not make themselves complicit in an unlawful process.
Legislation makes no provision for Local Municipalities to withdraw the entire delegation from the district council and makes no provision for the re-run of such elections. The legislation only makes provision for a political party to withdraw a specific person’s name, by written notice
These actions appear to be a move to fix political blunders, as the ANC was asleep at the wheel when these lists were first elected.
This follows as both the Makana and Ndlambe Local Municipality Councils are seeking to withdraw the list of district council representatives previously elected at its inaugural meeting and to then re-elect all representatives to the district.
In Makana, the item brought to the council alleges the manner in which the IEC conducted the election ‘weakened the representation’ of Makana to the District. Re-election would not strengthen Makana’s representation at the District level, as the number of representatives will not change.
In Ndlambe, the ANC gave a notice of motion for the recission of the resolution of council regarding representatives. The motion alleges that the IEC conducted the election process in such a way that there was no scope for Council or the administration to confirm or dispute the process.
In both cases, no objections were raised on the day or the weeks following the initial elections,.
It is clear that councillors and party agents of the ANC failed to adequately familiarise themselves with the process and the relevant provisions of the relevant legislation.
The DA will continue to hold the government to account and ensure that no actions fly in the face of the rule of law or our Constitutional principles. These actions are obstacles that must be prevented so that we can be focused on building a province of hope and opportunity.
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