DA approaches High Court over mayor
2013-02-25 20:34
Johannesburg - The DA in Tlokwe (Potchefstroom)
approached the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Monday ahead of a
proposal by the ANC to pass a vote of no confidence in the local mayor.
The DA said it wanted the court to decide on what its
North West leader Chris Hattingh described as irregularities in the ANC’s
attempt to regain power in the municipality.
"Details of these irregularities will be made public
when the court makes its decision on when the matter should be heard,"
Hattingh said in a statement.
The ANC in the municipality intended tabling a motion of
no confidence in DA municipal leader Annette Combrink at a council meeting on
Tuesday.
"The DA believes that the ANC is resorting to
irregular means to gain back power in an attempt to cover up fraud and
corruption before it is exposed," Hattingh said.
Fighting ANC factions passed a motion of no confidence in
former mayor Maphetle Maphetle in November.
He was replaced by Combrink - the first DA mayor in the
province - when she defeated ANC candidate Lucky Tsagae by 20 votes to 19 for
the mayoral position.
North West ANC spokesperson Kenny Morolong referred all enquiries
about the DA in Tlokwe to the ANC's national spokesperson Jackson Mthembu.
Mthembu and spokesperson Keith Khoza were not immediately
available for comment.
Hattingh said the motion of no-confidence in Maphetle was
based on a number of documented allegations of fraud and corruption.
"A forensic investigation instituted by the DA-led
Tlokwe municipality into these and more allegations is at an advanced
stage," he said.
"This may be the reason for the desperate ANC
attempts to regain control and to start a cover-up operation, a common tactic
in the North West provincial government."
The DA said on 7 February it would table a motion of no
confidence in Barei Segotso, the municipal speaker, at the same meeting on
Tuesday.
According to reports, President Jacob Zuma, ANC Deputy President
Cyril Ramaphosa, Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe and Chairperson Baleka Mbete
made an unannounced visit to the municipality on 11 February.
Mantashe later told reporters that the leaders were there
to discuss numerous problems in the North West and were not looking at Tlokwe
in isolation.
DA leader Helen Zille said on Saturday that there had
been significant improvements in the municipality in the three months it had
been led by Combrink.
"While the DA may continue to govern in Tlokwe for
only a few days more, we can be proud that we have made major strides in making
this a more delivery-focused municipality," Zille said in a statement.
- SAPA
