Maile explains why he was adamant about dissolving Tshwane council

Gauteng Human Settlements, Urban Planning and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC Lebogang Maile has fingered several challenges which may have resulted in government’s intervention in Tshwane to have the metro placed under administration.

Maile took to Twitter after the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) backed the Gauteng government’s move to have the Tshwane metro placed under administration.

In an almost unanimous vote, NCOP members supported the dissolution of Tshwane, with NCOP chairperson China Dodovus describing the dissolution as justified.

Eight provinces voted in favour with only one vote from the DA-governed Western Cape voting against.

The NCOP, as a result, supported Gauteng Premier David Makhura’s decision to dissolve Tshwane and place it under administration, following several failed council meetings in a metro without a mayor or municipal manager.

While the DA has approached the High Court in Pretoria to challenge the decision, Maile said he was not surprised by the eight out of nine provinces which supported the motion.

The process, according to Maile, now paved the way for the city’s by-elections, which were scheduled to be held within 90 days but will now most likely be on hold due to the Covid-19 state of disaster.

In a series of tweets, Maile said the city had experienced serious governance challenges which dated back to around 2016.

Those challenges ranged from the irregular appointments of senior managers, disruptive and unruly behaviour in municipal council sittings to collapsed council sittings, which resulted in a failure to address relevant governance and service delivery issues.

This led to a failure to address issues that were raised by the auditor-general, which in turn resulted in the metro being unable to meet its constitutional obligations.

Makhura stepped in to invoke section 139 of the Constitution, as the metro had been without a mayor for several weeks, an issue which lay on top of another burning issue, which was the recurrent, chaotic and unsuccessful council sittings.

Months of instability in the metro resulted in the NCOP deciding in favour of the Gauteng government’s move for by-elections.

Both the EFF and ANC have on numerous occasions attempted to oust the DA in Tshwane. Although the NCOP believes the move to place Tshwane under administration is warranted, the DA still views the move as illegal.

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