DA will 'go after' Lebogang Maile over Tshwane council dissolution

The DA has threatened further legal action against Gauteng local government MEC Lebogang Maile should it win its Tshwane case.

This comes as the DA is expected to square off with the Gauteng provincial government in two courts over the placing of the Tshwane under administration.

First, the DA will be at the North Gauteng High Court next week, asking it to give the go-ahead for the implementation of the judgment which sets aside the dissolution of the Tshwane council.

The two parties will later fight it out at either the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) or the Constitutional Court, where the provincial government is looking to have the whole North Gauteng High Court judgment overturned.

Speaking during a “town hall meeting” hosted by DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille on Thursday, the party’s mayoral candidate in Tshwane, Randall Williams, confirmed plans to go after Maile.

“We have asked our caucus leader in the Gauteng provincial legislature to raise this issue in the legislature. But I think what we need to do if we want to take further steps against MEC Maile, we will have to wait for the [court actions] to be finalised,” said Williams.

“Once our judgment has been implemented and the findings of the full bench [of the North Gauteng High Court] confirm that Maile has acted unlawfully, we can then take legal steps against Maile - once it’s been confirmed by the ConCourt or the SCA.”

Zille, who was the host of the meeting, agreed with Williams, saying the action would be important.

“In terms of the judgment as it stands now, he acted unlawfully. They call it 'constitutionally delinquent' because he had a constitutional obligation to act in a certain way and he didn’t. In fact, he did the exact opposite,” she said.

“So we certainly will not let that drop, because it’s critically important that people are held to account.”