DA secures first court victory against Umdoni Municipality

Issued by Dean Macpherson, MP – DA KZN Chairperson
24 Mar 2023 in Press Statements

The DA in KwaZulu-Natal is pleased with the outcome at the Durban High Court today in its case against the Umdoni Municipality.

This case was brought by the DA after the ANC coalition in the council relocated the party’s Executive committee (EXCO) seat in violation of the Municipal Structures Act.

Despite our repeated warnings and legal letters to the Municipal Manager, Thabisile Ndlela, the ANC coalition of chaos persisted with its arrogance and unlawful behaviour.

In our papers and replying affidavit, we have set out why the council is not entitled to allocate our seat to the ANC and that the council have no power to do so.

The Acting High Court Judge agreed with the DA that the council indeed overstepped its authority and invalidated the meeting where they reallocated our seat and appointed an ANC councillor to it.

The Judge further ordered that the matter is sufficiently urgent to be heard and ventilated, and we hope to get this date shortly from the Judge President of the KwaZulu-Natal High Court.

This opportunity will also allow the DA to argue why no possibility exists to reallocate a seat to another party during a council term and that a personal costs order should be granted against the Municipal Manager. The ratepayers of Umdoni should not be forced to pay for frivolous litigation when it can be better spent on service delivery.

The DA in KZN will continue to ensure that the rights of voters are protected and that the seats allocated to political parties that they vote for are not stolen to benefit those that have lost power through the ballot box.