The Democratic Alliance (DA) Caucus in the Ingquza Hill Municipality will be seeking provincial intervention to stop the ANC-led Council from continuing to waste taxpayers’ money on frivolous legal battles and golden handshakes for officials.
An emergency council meeting was called on Tuesday, 15 June 2021, to discuss a Supreme Court of Appeal judgment regarding the legal battle between the municipality and former mayor Pat Mdingi.
The DA warned against the removal of the former mayor, but in 2019 council removed Mdingi from his position and the former mayor took the case to the Mthatha High Court, demanding his reinstatement.
The court found in favour of Mdingi but the municipality decided to take up the matter in the Supreme Court of Appeal.
On 10 June 2021, a judgment was handed down from the Supreme Court of Appeal. The Municipality’s appeal was dismissed with costs.
During an emergency council meeting the DA strongly opposed incurring further legal expenses regarding this matter, but the ANC-led Council nonetheless decided to appeal the decision by the Supreme Court of Appeal.
This municipality has no problem with wasting the money of its long-suffering residents by looting municipal coffers. When a former municipal manager was illegally dismissed, the matter ended in court and the municipality spent millions of rands on legal fees and a golden handshake for the former municipal manager.
The money that will now be wasted on another appeal could be much better utilised for service delivery.
Any legal costs incurred from this ill-conceived appeal should be met in their personal capacity by all councillors that voted in favour of this resolution.
We will write to the DA EC Shadow MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Vicky Knoetze, MPL, and ask her to take up the matter with the MEC for CoGTA, Xolile Nqatha.
Only a DA government can save the residents of Ingquza Hill from the uncaring and corrupt ANC, because where the DA governs, we get things done.
It is time for change and the people of Ingquza Hill can make this a reality by voting for the DA during the local government elections on 27 October 2021.