Supreme Court rules in DA’s favour

27 October 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the long-awaited judgment handed down today in the Supreme Court of Appeal in which the DA's Section 18(3) Application was granted, which will reinstate the DA in the City of Tshwane and oust the unlawful ANC administrators.

It was obvious from the court judgement that the ANC’s action to put City of Tshwane under administration eight months ago was a politically motivated power grab on the part of Gauteng Cooperative Governance MEC Lebogang Maile.                                              

There was no justification in removing the elected DA councillors from their posts.

The Supreme Court of Appeal has affirmed the original judgement by the Gauteng North High Court, stating the following:

“the running of the City of Tshwane by an unelected administrator is the very antithesis of democratic and accountable government for local communities, enshrined in s 152(1)(a) of the Constitution. The court's order properly ensures that the councillors, duly elected by the citizens of Tshwane in 2016, are allowed to resume their rightful constitutional role, powers and responsibilities. The order gives effect to the rights of voters and preserves the autonomy of local government. It cannot be faulted.”

The DA will ensure that Maile is personally held to account for all legal costs, wasting tax payers money and the perilous state of chaos and mismanagement that the City of Tshwane is in today due to his and the ANC’s unlawful actions and the incompetence of the administrators he foisted on the City for all these months.

For months residents of Tshwane have suffered, while Maile's friends and ANC cadres collected exorbitant salaries.

Issued byMike Moriarty,DA Gauteng Provincial Chairperson, 27 October 2020