Anger over City’s refusal to submit to legislature
THE provincial opposition is upset by the City’s refusal to submit to the legislature and has put Local Government MEC Anton Bredell on the spot as a result.
In recent weeks Bredell has replied to questions about the City with a three-paragraph statement that reads, in part: “This question relates to the affairs of the City of Cape Town. The City maintains that legislature questions are intended to hold the executive accountable for their official decisions and actions, and cannot be used to hold local government accountable for its decisions and actions.
“The City further maintains that the mayor and City Manager are accountable to the City Council for the exercise of their duties, not to the provincial legislature.”
The City has claimed that there is no statutory provision that requires them to provide information relating to, or answers to, parliamentary questions, which has, in turn, meant that Bredell has been unable to respond to questions about them.
However, opposition members smell a rat.
ANC provincial local government spokesperson Danville Smith said: “The ANC will be writing to the premier and the chairperson of the standing committee on local government asking whether they are condoning the cover-up action by the City, and we will be demanding that officials from the City account in the committee.
“We will also be making a Promotion of Access to Information Act application to the City demanding answers to our questions. The City had better refer us to the legislation that they base their arrogance on.”
Good party MPL Brett Herron said: “This is a serious matter and a question of constitutionality. The City’s conduct is obstructionist and raises questions about what they have to hide.”
Meanwhile, despite an earlier assurance that it would respond by deadline to queries sent to it on Monday by the Argus, the City last night said they could only respond today.