Court postpones Tshwane mayor court challenge
The high court in Pretoria has postponed the Democratic Alliance's (DA) application to challenge the removal of the Tshwane mayor and speaker.
The African National Congress (ANC) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) were expected to present arguments in the high court in Pretoria on Tuesday on why the resolutions passed by the Tshwane council last week should stand.
The DA in Gauteng is challenging the legality of a motion of no confidence passed in council speaker Katlego Mathebe.
The council voted to remove mayor Stevens Mokgalapa and the speaker, but the high court suspended the resolutions pending Tuesday's outcome.
However proceedings were halted after the ANC claimed they had not been served with any legal papers ahead of the DA’s challenge.
The DA's provincial chairperson Mike Moriarty says he's shocked by these claims.
"The ANC has claimed that the speaker, who is also a party in this matter as is us the DA but they are two separate actions, that they didn't get the papers from the speaker which is quite odd because they did indicate to the speaker that they plan to oppose. I'm not sure how you do that if you don't have papers.
"The judge has been sympathetic and says 'OK, let's get you the set of papers and let's give you time to consider'."
They will now have until Thursday to file replying papers.
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This comes on the back of rolling blackouts implemented by the power utility. Last week a number of revelations were made on the root of the problem at the ailing state-owned enterprise, including claims of sabotage. Speaking on the final day of the party's elective conference in Nasrec, south of Johannesburg, Malema said they will protect state entities by any means necessary.