Councillor Yogis Govender, DA eThekwini caucus leader, Cllr Thabani Mthethwa, DA provincial leader, Francois Rodgers and KZN COGTA spokesperson, Martin Meyer. Picture: DA KZN
Durban — The DA in KwaZulu-Natal said it would immediately place eThekwini under administration after next year’s election as it expects to be a major partner in the new government if its motion to dissolve the council fails.
The party announced on Wednesday that its eThekwini caucus has tabled the motion to dissolve the “dysfunctional ANC-led council” and call for fresh elections.
Speaking during a media briefing on Wednesday, the DA leader in the province Francois Rodgers said the party has tried to engage the provincial and national government to place the City under the administration using section 39 but all has failed.
He said the party has also tried several motions to unseat the ANC in eThekwini but that also failed. Rodgers said his party has also realised that even calling for Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda’s removal will not help because the ANC will bring another comrade.
We have this morning, 29 November 2023, formally submitted a motion for the dissolution of eThekwini Council.
— DA KZN (@DA_KZN) November 29, 2023
We are now waiting on the Municipal Speaker, Cllr Thabani Nyawose to inform us of when this motion will be debated by Council.
We are putting our jobs on the line to… pic.twitter.com/HXx9jl15Xc
He added that there was not even a point in expecting Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC Bongi Sithole-Moloi to dissolve the council since she was “chased away” by ANC councillors when she went to introduce the section 154 committee.
He said if the party fails to get enough votes for the motion, the party will continue holding the City’s leadership to account but after next year’s elections the City will immediately be placed under administration by the new provincial government where the DA will be a major partner after the ANC has been defeated.
He added that the party will appoint an independent and competent administrator to avoid the situation where the administrator will spend years in the municipality without any improvement because he is a deployed comrade.
In terms of the 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 turned two years on November 1 this year, which qualifies the DA’s motion.
Rodgers said the EFF was also welcome to support the DA motion but will not engage the party since it was part of the problem as it was part of the ANC coalition. The party said there was no need to give a reason for the motion to dissolve the council since millions of people are living without water. The party further said it will engage ratepayers associations to also support the motion.
The dissolution of eThekwini Municipality will mean an early election, that will give residents the chance to decide who they deem fit to to be able to efficiently run eThekwini.
— DA KZN (@DA_KZN) November 29, 2023
We are calling on all councillors in eThekwini to realise the failures to support the DA’s call to… pic.twitter.com/AJgEY6FJCJ
eThekwini speaker’s office spokesperson Mack Makhathini said the office has not received the DA’s motion.
ANC spokesperson in eThekwini Mlondi Mkhize said the ANC was not concerned about the DA’s call because it was doing its work as the opposition party, adding that their motion would not succeed.
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