DA welcomes court progress on illegal EXCO appointment by Umdoni Municipality

27 July 2023

The DA in KwaZulu-Natal is pleased with the progress into the party’s court case against the Umdoni municipality who illegally gave a DA Executive Committee (EXCO) seat to the ANC.

Today the judgment was reserved at the Durban High Court (view images here, here and here).

Since November 2022, the DA has sought to have our EXCO seat rightly allocated to the party after the Municipal Manager, Thabisile Ndlela decided otherwise and allowed the ANC to occupy the seat on full pay following a former DA councillor defecting to the ANC through a by-election. The Councillor has been on a full Executive Committee Councillors salary ever since.

The DA is confident in our case which is why we seek a personal costs order against Ndlela because she was repeatedly warned against her actions.

The Municipal Structures Act is very clear that EXCO seats are allocated by a formula at the start of a term and remain in force for the full duration of the Council.

What the Umdoni Municipality seeks to do, at the behest of the ANC, would have wide-ranging consequences for municipalities in KZN should they be allowed to re-allocate Executive Committees based on the outcome of a by-election, and would cause chaos and political instability in the province.

The DA will continue to fight for good governance across KZN which includes seeking relief from the courts.

In 2024 we will have every opportunity to rid our province of this type of maladministration through a coalition government who delivers. It is therefore crucial that every person is registered to vote and take ownership of a new hope in KwaZulu-Natal.

Issued by Dean Macpherson, DA KZN Chairperson, 27 July 2023