Update

PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Bitou’s political drama deepened over the past week after the DA withdrew a court application to declare a special council meeting illegal.

The greater Plett area has been plagued by several political challenges over the past few weeks including criminal complaints laid with the Hawks against, among others, the town’s mayor Peter Lobese.

The DA laid the complaints over alleged illegal “siphoning of money” from municipal accounts.

This after Lobese, of the AUF, effectively voted against his coalition with the DA – one which now seems to have come to an end – when he sided with the ANC on several decisions.

Vote of no confidence
One of these was voting with the ANC in a vote of no confidence in Speaker Annelise Olivier and deputy mayor Jessica Kamkam during a special council meeting on 24 April 2018. They were replaced with ANC councillors Euan Wildeman and Sandiso Gcabayi.

The DA claimed that the special council meeting was illegally convened on several procedural grounds and that decisions made thereafter, including the vote of no confidence, were therefore null and void.
They subsequently applied for an order to declare the meeting illegal and the matter was set to be heard in the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday 8 May 2018.

DA caucus leader in Bitou, Bill Nel, said they decided to withdraw the application due to "technical issues" with the application. 

"We can however sort out these issues and do the application again," Nel said.

'No valid Speaker'
He added that the biggest motivation behind possibly resubmitting the application was the fact that the party believes the council do not have a valid Speaker and therefore all decisions made during council meetings would thus be null and void. He added that the DA also questions the legitimacy of the composition of the municipality, especially in terms of the legality around the appointment of an acting municipal manager.

AUF local structure chairperson Lindinceba Nkentsha said in a statement that the DA’s withdrawal of the application means the special council meeting was therefore legal and that decisions, including the vote of no confidence and the subsequent appointment of a new speaker and deputy mayor, are therefore binding.

'DA must pay costs'
“This unnecessary legal process consumed time and resources and we want DA councilors to pay for all the legal costs in relation to these unfounded allegations against the council. The DA knows its lies will not stand the truth in a court of law,” Nkentsha said in a statement.

He added that the “so called” forensic investigation commissioned by the DA is “criminal action”. “Council never appointed or commissioned such an investigation except on accusations alleged by the DA toward the two suspended officials.”

The investigation was into claims of, among others, maladministration, which the party claims indicates “serious illegal actions, wasteful and fruitless expenditure, corruption and fraud” allegedly by suspended municipal manager Thabo Ndlovu and other senior heads of departments and officials in the mayor’s office.

'DA violated ethical code'
“The DA secretly extended the scope of the investigation without council knowledge. The aim was to taint the image of the municipal manager and mayor, hoping they will find corrupt practices against the two. The DA must be investigated and should pay for the cost of secretly extending the scope and terms of such an investigation without council approval. 

"The DA illegally sneaked the report to (Western Cape MEC for local government Anton) Bredell without the final report being submitted to council – a violation of ethical code and council policies.”

Mayor Lobese 'a target'
About a media statement by the DA that indicates the party would once again form a coalition with the AUF on condition that Lobese is replaced, Nkentsha said he believes Lobese is “the target”. 

“We know Lobese is the target, but salute him for courage to stand against all odds as the DA strives to render the municipality defunct to pave a way for intervention by provincial government. Lobese managed to stand against this pressure which led to the suspension and poaching of senior municipal officials to DA-controlled municipalities.”

He added that the DA does not have the best interests of Bitou at heart. “They strived daily over the past nine months to put the municipality under provincial administration. The DA lost power in Bitou through the ballot paper, why do they want to win it back through the provincial minister or government?

“The DA deserves to be in opposition as they continue to oppose transformation and developmental initiatives proposed by other political parties.”

ANC weighs in
ANC chief whip in Bitou, Phaki Mbali, also slammed the DA’s court application as a “frivolous” one. “The ANC viewed this application as a waste of court time. The application was a politically driven application which stood no chance of success in law as the DA was using the court as a desperate move to bring self-created political instability and to cover up their loss of political power in Bitou,” Mbali said.

He added that the party believes the matter is now a thing of the past and that political certainty would allow the ANC government to focus on service delivery, champion good governance and bring about stability in the administration.

'DA failed to deliver service'
“The ANC is concerned that the DA is leaving behind a weak administration due to DA interference in administration. The ANC has in a week in government discovered that DA government has failed to deliver service to the people. The DA has recorded underspending on capital budget during the third quarter; the municipality has not reached its 40% target. 

"The municipality only spent R 44.581-million of the total budget of R129-million as at 31 March and R84.432-million is yet to be spent. The municipality under the DA government lost R8-million of a municipal infrastructure grant back to the national treasury due to the lack of spending. This raises questions about the seriousness of the DA interest in the delivery of service.”

Mbali further said the ANC/AUF government has since held urgent meetings with senior officials to turn around the situation to improve delivery and would monitor progress.

After the local government elections in 2016, the DA won six seats with 49% of the votes, the ANC six seats with 41% and the AUF a single seat with 5%.
The AUF formed a coalition with the ANC to govern Bitou, with Lobese becoming the mayor.

In May 2017, Lobese left the ANC to form a new coalition with the DA citing corruption in the ANC as his reason. It appears that this relationship has now soured and that the AUF is back with the ANC. 

Read a related article: DA pulls out of court application

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