On 18 May 2022, the Speaker of the Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality, CSA councillor Cheslin Felix, used his casting vote to oust the DA Mayor, Ewald Loock, and DA Chief Whip, Ricardo Smith, following a Motion of No Confidence sponsored by the ANC.

The Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality is a collective executive system of local government, which operates slightly differently from the mayoral executive system.

At the meeting on 18 May, the DA asked for clarity following the Motion of No Confidence as to whether the removal of the Mayor complied with Section 53 or 57 of the Municipal Structures Act.

The Municipal Manager was unable to respond to the question, and he advised that the Council Meeting be adjourned to allow for a legal opinion on the matter. At that stage, the DA Caucus was ready to proceed with the election for the replacement of Councillor Loock and Councillor Smith.

On Thursday, 19 May, the DA Caucus submitted a letter to the Municipal Manager, Dr Edward Rankwana, requesting that the legal opinion being sought be provided to the DA at least 48 hours prior to the next meeting so that it could be properly interrogated. There was no response.

On Friday, 20 May, a notice of a Council Meeting scheduled for Monday, 23 May, was sent to all Councillors. This notice did not include a legal opinion on the question raised.

On Sunday, 22 May, the DA Caucus wrote to the Municipal Manager to urgently request a postponement of the meeting because no legal opinion had been forthcoming and further requested that a meeting only be scheduled within 48 hours after receipt of the legal opinion. No response was received from the Municipal Manager.

Yesterday, the DA submitted a letter to Dr Rankwana to advise that the DA Caucus would not be attending the Council Meeting scheduled for later that day, as there had been no response to the letter sent, nor had any legal opinion been provided despite this being the reason for the adjournment of the previous Council meeting.

It is our understanding that the Speaker attempted to convene the meeting but was unable to quorate, and the meeting was postponed until further notice.

It is totally unacceptable that the Municipal Manager, supported by the Speaker, makes promises to Council and then fails to fulfil that promise, despite several requests to do so.

This is further evidence of the fact that both the Municipal Manager and the Speaker are nothing more than ANC lackeys who are fully prepared to contravene the law in pursuing the agenda of their masters.

While it is not the intention of the DA to thwart the proper functioning of the Council, we cannot support the persistent non-adherence to the rules and legal prescripts of local government.

The DA will not attend a meeting to elect a new Mayor until we have absolute clarity on the legality of the actions being taken.

 

Issued by Dr Beyers Naude Constituency Leader, Samantha Graham-Maré, MP