Central SA
DA secures interdict against Free State municipality's payment of millions─── LUCKY NKUYANE 10:43 Thu, 03 Aug 2023
The DA in the Sasolburg-based Metsimaholo Local Municipality has secured a court interdict against the municipality, preventing it from paying millions of rands to a service provider.
Hellen Zille, the DA Federal Council's chairperson, said the party secured the interdict on Friday (28/7) in the Free State High Court. She said the municipality wanted to pay R35 million to the service provider.
Zille earlier accused the ANC and EFF of suspending the municipal manager Leaoa Mofokeng, when he refused to authorise payments after the two parties allegedly started pushing through initial payments, towards an amount of R35 million, to a Trust to which the Municipality does not owe the money.
On Tuesday (1/8), Zille alongside Free State provincial leaders – which included Joy Jankielsohn, David van Vuuren, and Mary Kleynhans, among others – picketed outside the Zamdela multi-purpose centre before a council sitting where the DA mayor Jeff Zwane faced a motion of no confidence. Zwane was eventually removed after this motion of no confidence.
“Following the DA’s successful interdict to prevent the Metsimaholo municipality from making further payments in a multi-million rand looting scheme supported by the ANC/EFF, the DA is now standing firm to prevent the ANC/EFF removing the municipality’s DA Mayor, Jeff Zwane, from office.
“The DA has also exposed the unlawful and unethical process by which the ANC/EFF removed an honest official, the Municipal Manager, after he sought to prevent this looting scheme.”
Zille said the DA will not sit back and enable the ANC/EFF to continue to run municipalities into the ground.
Hellen Zille led a picketing in support of the DA mayor Jeff Zwane who faced a motion of no confidence.
“Any decisions taken under the authority of an unlawfully appointed Municipal Manager will be illegal. This entire process has revealed the lengths to which the ANC/EFF will go to loot, and the torment they create for honest officials trying to prevent it.
“It is essential, for the survival of South Africa, that we all stand together to support honest officials and prevent the ANC/EFF from destroying municipalities entirely through their looting schemes,” she said.
However, the EFF and ANC have rejected the statement by the DA in the council.
The Welkom-based Matjhabeng Local Municipality has also been interdicted from making a multimillion-rand payment to a service provider by the Gigh Court on Friday.
