Mpho Phalatse, who is affiliated with the Democratic Alliance (DA), has been restored to her position as mayor of Johannesburg.
The Court ruled that Phalatse’s removal from office through a no confidence motion was invalid and unlawful. The court also ruled that the ANC’s election of Dada Morero the previous month was also invalid, according to Times Live.
A coalition led by the ANC, which also included the Economic Freedom Fighters and the Patriotic Alliance, was successful in removing Phalatse.
The coalition had earlier appointed Colleen Makhubele of the Cope party as the council speaker. Makhubele then scheduled a council meeting for two days later, which effectively resulted in the removal of Phalatse and the installation of Morero.
The high court has determined that the sitting in question was unlawful, unconstitutional, and therefore invalid.
The meeting of the programmes committee that was scheduled to take place on September 30, during the council sitting at which Morero was elected, has been postponed.
The first applicant, Phalatse, is proclaimed to be the mayor of Johannesburg, according to the decision handed down by the high court.
Dada Morero response
As a direct response to this, Morero published a statement on his social media page stating that he has “stepped aside formally as the executive mayor.”
Since Morero was elected mayor, every decision he has made in that capacity has been ruled unlawful, unconstitutional, and invalid, and they have all been overturned.
The attorneys for Makhubele had argued that in the event that the court rules against her, it shouldn’t start by removing Morero as mayor but instead direct the city to arrange another council meeting at which a new mayor will be elected. This would occur in the event that the court finds in favor of Makhubele.
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They reasoned that this way because any changes to the current situation would be temporary due to the fact that the coalition led by the ANC enjoyed a majority and was likely to win the vote for mayor.
The attorneys for Makhubele also contended that the scheduling of the council sitting outside of the permitted 72-hour period should be allowed to stand as long as the ANC-led alliance had the required numbers to win and that it would not have made a difference had the sitting been scheduled for a later date. This argument was based on the fact that the ANC-led coalition had the required numbers to win.
This proposition was shot down by the court, which stated that anything could take place in the realm of politics because it is unpredictable.
The number of votes cast in favor of the no confidence motion shouldn’t be the litmus test. After all, they were produced through a procedure that was riddled with corruption.
It’s possible that the end result would have been the same. But this is irrelevant because the court stated that in order to have a truly democratic outcome, there must first be a democratic and constitutionally valid procedure.
