Open letter to Premier Makhura: Hold Maile accountable for illegally placing Tshwane under administration

13 October 2021

Dear Premier Makhura,

Over a week has passed since the Constitutional Court ruled that a member of your ANC government executive breached the law, acted unlawfully and took a most serious administrative action outside of the very law which he swore to uphold.

In the week that has passed, you have done nothing to hold MEC Lebogang Maile accountable for his unacceptable conduct and grave actions.

You are personally protecting and defending a law-breaker.

There is no higher court than the Constitutional Court, and the finding against your MEC is on a matter fundamental to his role in your government. The MEC is responsible himself for the relationships between governments in the Province, and it is on this which he has been ruled out of order by the Constitutional Court.

Where is the accountability, and where is the responsibility for MEC Maile breaking the law?

It is clear that the MEC intended only to misuse his powers to undermine the DA governance of the City of Tshwane, and his unlawful conduct was clearly designed to stop the progress that the DA had begun to make.

That is a devastatingly political ploy by MEC Maile, and even without the Constitutional Court ruling against him, you should have taken action.

Just yesterday, you and MEC Maile visited Emfuleni Local Municipality which has been under administration since 2018, there is clear maladministration, Eskom attached its municipal bank account and the Sheriff attached its municipal vehicles. Yet no further intervention has been forthcoming from your administration.

Premier Makhura, one can only conclude that you are protecting and defending Maile for your own cynical political reasons.

The people of Gauteng deserve a government that responds when the highest Court in the land makes serious findings against it.

For this reason, I challenge you, Premier Davide Makhura, to fire MEC Maile within 7 days.

You have 7 days to do so, else you make a mockery of the highest court in South Africa.

The ball is now in your court.

Yours sincerely,

Solly Msimanga, DA Gauteng Leader, 13 October 2021