The DA in Gauteng welcomed the judgment of the high court that vindicated their fight against the disruption of service delivery in Ekurhuleni.
The party turned to the courts after council speaker Raymond Dlamini was voted out by councillors from the EFF, the ANC, the Super Seven and IRASA at a council meeting. He was voted out in absentia after the meeting collapsed.
Leader of the ANC caucus, Jongizizwa Dlabathi, was then elected as the acting whip of the council (following chief whip Khetha Shandu tendering his resignation), with EFF councillor Nthabiseng Tshivhenga as the interim speaker.
“The hijacking of council was nothing more than state capture at a local government level facilitated by the politicisation of the civil service offices. And residents, as always, got the short end of the stick,” said Solly Msimanga, the DA Gauteng provincial leader.
“Had it not been for the political games of the coalition of corruption, the council would have been able to ensure swift passage of the city’s adjustment budget, the passage of which would ensure further progress on getting services to the quality that residents deserve.”
Msimanga stated the ‘hijacking’ of the council meant that the DA-led government’s service delivery plans had stalled.
“The plans are to fix, maintain and expand the city’s fleet of refuse trucks with an allocation of R21 700 000, to provide debt impairment assistance, services and bulk purchases of water and electricity through an increase in available resources of more than R2b, to deal urgently with load-shedding through IPPs with an extra allocation of R36 700 000 and to deal urgently with potholes and streetlight repairs with an extra allocation of R19 170 000.
“The DA calls on all parties in the Ekurhuleni city council to get back to work and to urgently pass the DA-led multi-party coalition’s adjustment budget so that the residents of Ekurhuleni can get what they are entitled to – a government that works and works for them,” said Msimanga.
