From left: DA eThekwini leader Thabani Mthethwa, KwaZulu-Natal DA leader Francois Rogers and the DA legislature member Martin Meyer at the media briefing on Wednesday. Photo by Willem Phungula
Durban — The DA in eThekwini has tabled the motion to dissolve the ANC-led council.
This was announced by the party’s caucus leader Thabani Mthethwa during a media briefing on Wednesday.
Mthethwa, who was with the party’s provincial leader Francois Rogers, councillor Yogis Govender as well party spokesperson on Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Martin Meyer, said he has already submitted the motion to the council speaker Thabani Nyawose.
Mthethwa said the party will use section 34 of the Municipal Structures Act which allows the council to dissolve itself without seeking approval from the provincial government, particularly the Cogta MEC. The DA said there was not even a reason to explain why it had taken the decision – because all eThekwini residents were affected by the ANC-led council’s failures.
“Nothing is working in eThekwini. All departments in the City are dysfunctional so after we have tried everything to ensure that residents get services, we have decided that the people of eThekwini must be given another chance to elect the new City leadership of their choice because this one has failed. More than a million people living in the City have no water,” said Mthethwa.
He added that the City will need R128 billion to fix water and sanitation infrastructure which is reaching the end of its lifespan and could not collect R26bn revenue.
The party also scoffed at the City’s announcement that beaches were declared safe for swimming by independent test results from Talbot, saying testing the water from E coli continuously is not a solution but the real solution would be fixing the infrastructure.
The party said it would start a vigorous campaign to woo other parties to support its motion to dissolve the council.
In terms of Municipal Structures Act no.117 of 1998 section 34 (1) A municipal council may dissolve itself at a meeting called specifically for this purpose by adopting a resolution with a supporting vote of at least two-thirds of the councillors. The act further stipulates that the council should have been two years in office.
The City Council marked two years on November 1 this year which qualifies the DA’s motion. The City’s comment will be added once received.
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