The lack of action by the MEC for Local Government, Mlibo Qoboshiyane, in not stopping illegal ward committee elections from taking place shows a crisis of weak leadership and an endorsement of illegal ward committee election practices.
The ward committee elections in Emalahleni Municipality are taking place today despite due process in accordance with Section 73 of the Municipal Structures Act not having taken place as required.
I am informed that these elections have been preceded with violence by ANC members.
Several other ward committee election processes have taken place or will happen shortly in violation of the Act.
Every municipal council must make rules regulating how ward committee elections will be run in their areas.
Once these rules become resolutions of council, election processes for ward committees can take place in accordance with these rules.
Two weeks ago I posed a written question to the MEC and requested him to have all ward committee elections where the Act had been violated declared null and void.
To date the MEC has ignored this serious request.
Having spoken to MEC Qoboshiyane yesterday about this matter he assured me that he would attend to it and come back to us yesterday. An urgent SMS to the MEC this morning warning him about the illegal elections and a possible interdict against his department and the Emalahleni Municipality has been ignored.
The MEC is showing weak leadership in not immediately attending to this problem and the illegal ward committee elections that are and have taken place throughout the province to date.
Should no action be taken in stopping the Emalahleni ward committee elections from taking place, the DA will consider interdicting the MEC in this matter.
If the interdict process takes place all councillors and the MEC will be held personally liable for fruitless and wasteful expenditure and will be liable to pay the costs of litigation from their own pockets.
Furthermore, the Democratic Alliance will consider a motion that this matter be debated at the next sitting of the Legislature on 13 September 2011.
This absurd lack of action to urgently act against this political illegality must beg the question as to whether the MEC and his mayors are serious about the rule of law processes in this province.
Dacre Haddon, MPL
