eThekwini deputy mayor won't leave without a fight as he heads back to court

The fight for the deputy mayoral position of eThekwini is far from over as the aggrieved Philani Mavundla took the decision to oust him as a member of the executive council to court for review on Thursday.

The ousted deputy mayor took the city and speaker back to the Durban high court to hold them in contempt of a court order, which barred them from attempting to remove him as an executive member of the council (exco) and deputy mayor of eThekwini.

The interim order was granted on Monday afternoon when judge Philip Nkosi ruled that it would be next to impossible for the municipal speaker to give Mavundla enough notice to “galvanise other parties” and political parties enough time to deliberate and form a view on the motion, since the council meeting was meant for the following morning.

However, the motion went ahead on Tuesday, where Mavundla was voted out.

Explaining the decision to go ahead with the motion, Thabani Nyawose, speaker of council, said he was satisfied they were not in contravention of the order.

Mavundla maintained that his ousting was unlawful and vowed to take the matter to court.

In an affidavit he filed in court, Mavundla asked for the council decision to be set aside and hold the speaker and council in contempt.

He said the notice afforded to him was “unreasonable” and “inadequate”. He added that he had not seen the motivation for his removal, while other councillors had seen it and may have formed a view that the motivations were correct without any “meaningful engagement” with him.

“By the time the council meeting convened at 10am, neither I nor any other councillors had any meaningful engagement with this motion. I was not in possession of any of the information upon which my removal was predicated, nor was I able to prepare any response,” he said.

He also applied to interdict the implementation of that decision and for him to be reinstated as both an executive member of council and deputy mayor.

“I did not have reasonable time to counter that and to caucus with the other councillors to deal with the motivation. The motion remained an ambush, being the very thing this court cautioned the speaker against doing. Such ambush tactic in itself vitiates against the motion being sustained and entitles me to the relief which I seek,” he said.

The matter was adjourned to December 23 for a “determination of the issue of interim relief”.

The speaker, the council, the chief whip, eThekwini municipality and the municipal manager — the first five respondents — are to file answering affidavits by 1pm on December 20, and Mavundla is to file an answering affidavit the next day.

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