Accept E Cape ruling, Matatiele urged
2010-02-28 21:25
Johannesburg - The ANC in the Eastern Cape has pleaded with the Matatiele community on Sunday to accept a Constitutional Court ruling that the municipality will remain in the province.
"The provincial executive committee (PEC) urges the community to remain calm and work together with the ANC in uplifting the standards of life of the citizens," said spokesperson Mlibo Qoboshiyane after the party's provincial executive committee meeting over the weekend.
He said the PEC has directed the Eastern Cape government to focus on the immediate resolution of all community complaints, service delivery concerns on health, education, roads and other social amenities which have plagued Matatiele.
The Constitutional Court ruled last week that the legislation used to transfer Matatiele from KwaZulu-Natal to the Eastern Cape was not unconstitutional.
The Poverty Alleviation Network (PAN), representing the Matatiele community, had challenged the constitutionality of the Constitution's Thirteenth Amendment Act 2007 and the Cross-Boundary Municipalities Laws Repeal and Related Matters Amendment Act.
This was after the Matatiele municipality was moved from KwaZulu-Natal to the Eastern Cape in 2005.
PAN claimed that Parliament and the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government merely went through the motions of public participation when they enacted the Constitution's Thirteenth Amendment Act.
It submitted that the National Assembly, acting through its portfolio committee and the National Council of Provinces, failed to fulfil its constitutional obligations to facilitate public involvement by affording the people of Matatiele a meaningful opportunity to be heard.
PAN conceded that a public participation process was held, but submitted that only the views of Matatiele residents should have been sought by the KwaZulu-Natal legislature.
- SAPA