Minister acknowledges Constitutional Court judgment

Anton Bredell, the Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning in the Western Cape notes a decision handed down by the Constitutional Court regarding Mr. Andile Lili.

The Constitutional Court has dismissed Mr. Lili's application for leave to appeal a decision by the Western Cape High Court.

The initial decision that was upheld was a decision by Minister Bredell to expel Mr. Lili as a councillor for the City of Cape Town.

Minister Bredell says the charges against Mr. Lili were of a serious nature.

"Mr Lili was in effect taking the law into his own hands in demolishing peoples' homes and evicting them, insulting vulnerable community members and interfering with the City's housing allocation processes," said Bredell.

The minister says at no time did Mr. Lili deny or attempt to explain or in any way deal with, the far-reaching evidence of misconduct levelled against him. 

"He simply contended that the initial disciplinary hearing was procedurally unfair ‘without getting into the merits of the matter'. No explanation or motivation was ever provided for the failure to deal with the substance of the charges."

The Constitutional Court has concluded that the application for leave to appeal has no prospects of success. 

Minister Bredell says the constitutional court decision now brings the matter to a close.

Some background to the matter:

The initial charge sheet brought against Mr. Lili by the Disciplinary Committee of the Council of the City of Cape Town set out two charges. 

In summary, the first charge was that Mr Lili contravened Item 2 of the Councillor's Code of Conduct by failing to perform his functions as a councillor in good faith, honestly and in a transparent manner in that he:

1.1 informed a Khayelitsha resident Bongiwe Gugushe during community meetings in the period between May and July 2011 to move out of her home and/or to demolish her home;

1.2 he made derogatory remarks to Ms Gugushe during a community meeting, stating that she would have to give birth in a drain or in the bush;

1.3 he led or was part of a group of people who on or about 14 July 2011 went to demolish the home of Noluvuyo Kanti and/or entered her home and removed household items and/or assisted in demolishing her home;

1.4 he made offensive remarks to Virginia Daweti during a community meeting in June or July 2011 by referring to her as a thief and/or witch or witch doctor and by informing her that a council letter proving that she was the legal owner of plot 73845 was fraudulent; and

1.5 He informed Mbuyisele Gana in or about July 2011 to occupy and/or build a structure on the property of Thomas Nguza, plot 74039, Nkanini.

The second charge was to the effect that he had contravened Item 11 of the Code by interfering in the administration of the council by means of the conduct specified in the first charge.

Detailed evidence of misconduct was presented against Mr. Lili at the disciplinary hearing by six different witnesses. The Disciplinary Committee evaluated this evidence and concluded that all the witnesses were credible and no evidence was given in rebuttal of their claims. Mr. Lili was found guilty in respect of all the charges save for charge 1.5 in respect of which the Disciplinary Committee rejected the evidence as hearsay.

Statement issued by Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell, October 3 2014

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