Acting Cape Town mayor to appoint new mayoral committee

City of Cape Town acting mayor Ian Neilson plans to appoint a new mayoral committee for the city on Monday afternoon.

“I am required by statute to appoint a mayoral committee (Mayco) to assist me in the governance of the city, and I am ready to do so,” he said on Sunday.

As was known, last week former mayor Patricia de Lille applied urgently to the High Court in Cape Town for an interim order reinstating her membership of the Democratic Alliance and as mayor pending the determination of an application by her for final relief against the DA, which would be heard on May 25, he said.

At the completion of the court proceedings on Friday evening in the urgent application, the court reserved judgment and said it was not in a position to indicate when its ruling would be delivered.

“I am advised that, legally, nothing precludes me from proceeding with the appointment of a Mayco, but out of respect to the court I will delay making the appointment until 3pm on Monday, 14 May 2018.

“If by then, the High Court has not ruled on alderman De Lille’s application, upholding her application for the interim order, I will proceed with the appointment of a new Mayco. I will not be able to wait any longer than that because without a Mayco from early in the coming week the governance of the city will be compromised.

“Among other things, a Mayco is required to give political guidance to the budget process, which is far advanced, for the forthcoming municipal financial year. I will convene a Mayco meeting for Tuesday morning,” Neilson said.

– African News Agency (ANA)