DA ready to fight back if Maile attempts to appeal Tshwane court judgment
Last month, the court ruled in the DA’s favour and found the decision to dissolve the council unlawful.
“Interference from one sphere of government into another sphere, as we have here, is seen as most intrusive and can only be resorted to in exceptional circumstances,” the court found.
“The decision of the Gauteng executive council to dissolve the City of Tshwane metropolitan municipality, taken on March 4 and communicated to applicants on March 10, is reviewed, declared invalid and set aside,” the court ruled.
#Tshwane Maile says they are going to the highest court in the land to bring the matter to finality & that a superior court would be able to give proper interpretation over issues of “executive obligation” & proportionality @TeamNews24
— Matshidiso Madia (@tshidi_lee) May 7, 2020
During the briefing, Maile said the court’s finding had created some confusion.
“The high court judgment has created more confusion as opposed to providing greater clarity on the dynamic interplay between provincial and local government.
“The high court was quick to find that a municipality’s constitutional and statutory obligations are not always ‘executive obligations’ under Section 139, but the high court never really explained the difference,” said Maile.
He argued that the approach adopted by the courts was “unworkable” and “inconsistent” with previous judgments by the Constitutional Court on municipalities’ obligations.
The province also took issue with proportionality, saying the courts tested the dissolution against a proportionality standard, whilst the decision to dissolve the municipality was not administrative.
The City is due to elect a new mayor over the weekend, in line with the high court decision.
