DA loses court bid to force special council meeting in Tlokwe
An application by the Democratic Alliance to force the Tlokwe municipality to call a special council meeting next week was struck off the roll in the High Court in Pretoria on Friday.
Judge Elias Matojane ruled that the DA’s application was not urgent and struck the application off the court roll with costs.
The party approached the high court on an urgent basis asking it to force Speaker Barei Mosiane-Segotsoto to convene a special council meeting. The party intended to pass a motion of no confidence in both Mosiane-Segosoto and Mayor Khotso Khumalo.
The application was made on Tuesday following a Constitutional Court ruling last year which nullified the results of the 2013 by-elections in seven wards of Tlokwe and set aside the election of seven ANC councillors.
After the Constitutional Court ruling, the ANC was left with only 22 seats while the DA and other opposition parties together had 23 seats.
Municipal by-elections to fill the vacant wards would be held on February 24.
The North West local government department said an ordinary council meeting of Tlokwe would take place on January 29.
In welcoming the judgment, acting North West Local Government and Human Settlements MEC Wendy Nelson said it would bring stability to Tlokwe.
“We want to be on record to indicate that the judgement itself will bring stability in council and will make the leadership of council to focus more in strengthening good governance in the municipality and accelerate issues of service delivery to the people of Tlokwe,” she said.
The DA had also lost its court bid to stop the merger of the Tlokwe and Ventersdorp municipalities.
ANA
File photo: Gallo Images