Johannesburg - Mpho Phalatse has been reinstated as the City of Johannesburg mayor after a court judgement found that her ousting was unlawful.
She was removed from her post last month and was replaced by the ANC’s Dada Morero.
Phalatse said that the South Gauteng High Court decision should serve as a warning to politicians across the country who will do anything, even undermine the law, to grab power for the sake of accessing resources.
"The residents of the country's economic capital deserve a capable and stable government that will repair and rebuild Joburg. In this time, we will also be reviewing all decisions that were made by the illegal ANC executives," she said.
According to Phalatse, the purpose of this review is to determine whether corrupt acts were facilitated in the city.
"This is indeed a victory, a victory for the rule of law, the residents of Joburg, and their service delivery needs," she said.
In the judgment delivered by Judge Raylene Keightley, she found that City of Joburg Speaker Colleen Makhubele was not lawfully permitted to treat DA Councillors as if they had no right to participate in the Council meeting because they had refused to sign the register.
"This means that she acted unlawfully and contrary to the prescripts of the Constitution and the Rules in refusing to permit them to speak; in refusing to consider their request for a caucus break; and for refusing to permit them to object to or to vote against the motion of no confidence.
"It follows that she also acted unlawfully in treating the motion as being unopposed. Her conclusion that it was unopposed, and hence to refuse to permit any debate on the motion, was fatally tainted with illegality through her unlawful refusal to permit DA councillors to participate in the proceedings of the Council," said Keightley.
Phalatse said over the course of weeks they have been engaging with various political parties and stakeholders who do not want to see service delivery in Joburg collapse under a corrupt government.
Therefore, I will call an immediate meeting of the reinstated Mayoral Committee. The residents of the country’s economic capital deserve a capable and stable government that will repair and rebuild Joburg," she said.
The reinstated mayor said that the taps of corruption would once again be closed so that they could keep the lights on, the water running and the residents safe.
"Residents will once again begin to see and feel a different and better Joburg. This is indeed a victory for the rule of law and the residents of Joburg," she said.
ActionSA National Chairperson Michael Beaumont issued a statement welcoming the judgment.
"While ActionSA welcomes this court outcome, it does not change the dynamics of instability that led to the collapse. This leaves the ball squarely in the DA’s court to demonstrate their commitment to multi-party coalitions providing an alternative to failed ANC governance," said Beaumont.
He said that the return of the multi-party coalition government could be a technical event that lasts a day or a week, or it could see the return of the multi-party coalition for the next four years, keeping the ANC in the opposition benches.
"In this regard, the DA must decide whether it is willing to re-engage its former coalition partners and secure enough support to sustain a government or whether it has given up on the coalition and surrendered the residents of Johannesburg to four more years of ANC governance," he said.
Beaumont said that his party commits itself to any discussions that lead to a multi-party coalition government being able to sustain itself over the next four years in order for improved service delivery and institutional changes to take effect in Johannesburg.
"The services needed by the residents of Johannesburg cannot be delivered from the opposition benches, and nor can the fight against corruption be won unless the coalition is in government.
"ActionSA is committed to the work of fixing Johannesburg, and for this, the coalition must govern for the rest of the term of office. We call upon all political parties committed to providing an alternative to the ANC to come together and deliver on this commitment," he said.
Gauteng Premier and ANC provincial chairperson Panyanza Lesufi speaking to news channel eNCA, said that Phalatse’s victory was short-lived.
He said that they respected the court's decision and that it was evident that the coalition partners in Joburg wanted a breath of fresh air and that, as the ANC, they could provide such.
*This is a developing story.
The Star