The high court in Free State has ruled in favor of Metsimaholo local municipality mayor Jeff Zwane, deeming a motion of no confidence tabled against him unlawful.
The court’s decision, which highlights the importance of due process in governance matters, has brought huge relief to Zwane.
The motion, tabled by the ANC/EFF alliance earlier in August, targeted Zwane after the DA’s decision to block what it claimed were unauthorized payments amounting to tens of millions of rands to a developer.
In a statement on Wednesday, the DA said the municipality is not indebted to the developer, viewing the payment demand as a thinly veiled attempt by the ANC/EFF alliance to exploit the municipality’s resources.
DA federal chairperson Helen Zille expressed satisfaction with the court’s ruling and emphasized that the motion of no confidence attempted to sidestep Zwane’s rights to call witnesses in his defence.
She also pointed out that when senior municipal officials raised objections to the payments, the ANC and EFF majority in council allegedly suspended them unlawfully.
According to Zille, some of the officials even reported receiving death threats, which hindered efforts to curb the alleged corruption.
She condemned what she referred to as “mafia tactics” and affirmed the DA-led Metsimaholo municipality’s commitment to upholding ethical governance practices.
“When senior municipal officials objected to the payments, the ANC/EFF majority illegally suspended them, and some received death threats, making it impossible to stop the corruption,” said Zille.
“Even if our government does not have a majority in the council, the DA will not tolerate mafia tactics where we govern.”
Zille further underlined the importance of safeguarding the progress achieved so far, expressing concern that the ANC and EFF actions could potentially reverse the municipality’s strides towards financial stability and efficient service delivery.
“We are working with members of the community and civic organisations to address service delivery bottlenecks and form partnerships to address backlogs.
“We cannot allow this progress to be reversed by the ANC/EFF alliance.”
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