Update

PLETTENBERG BAY POLITICAL NEWS - The DA in Bitou has won a court case against its opposition over the suspension of former mayor Peter Lobese during a special council meeting last month.

This morning, Thursday 1 July, the Western Cape High Court ordered that the suspension was unlawful and therefore null and void.

The court also ordered that Bitou Speaker Euan Wideman must convene a council meeting on 9 July for the election of a mayor.

The turmoil started after a unanimous vote of no confidence in Lobese in April this year.

Following this move the DA, along with the AUF, last month toppled the ANC-run municipality when the majority of councillors elected DA Caucus Leader Bill Nel as mayor. 

This election happened during a council meeting last month attended only by the DA and the AUF, which nevertheless constituted the majority of councillors, with Lobese siding with the DA.

ALSO READ: DA counters Lobese suspension

The ANC then challenged the election in the Western Cape High Court and on 3 June the court ordered that the meeting in question was null and void and ordered that a new mayor should be elected on 8 June.

During the 8 June meeting Wildeman however moved to suspend Lobese, referencing a criminal case involving alleged corruption, fraud and racketeering against him. 

This blocked Lobese from casting his vote for a new mayor and led to a split vote between the DA candidate, Nel, and the ANC candidate Sandiso Gcabayi, who is currently acting mayor of Bitou.

The DA however then turned to the court to declare Lobese’s suspension illegal. According to the code of conduct for councillors, a disciplinary process needs to be followed, after which the MEC for local government ultimately has to make the call to suspend a councillor. 

This process was apparently not followed.

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