Ruling on DA pair’s appeal application

The Port Elizabeth High Court will rule on Friday whether or not DA turncoat councillors Trevor Louw and Neville Higgins may appeal against an earlier decision.

The IEC has, meanwhile, postponed the by-elections in wards 35 and 37, which the men have led since 2016.

The court declared in December that the two were no longer councillors.

Higgins and Louw then applied for leave to appeal against the decision.

IEC regional supervisor Crosby Bacela said acting municipal manager Peter Neilson wrote to his office withdrawing the two vacancies in the council and the IEC was thus compelled to postpone the byelections.

“The municipal manager felt that according to Section 18 Subsection 1 of the Superior Courts Act, when someone appeals a decision of the court, all activities around that person must be suspended,” Bacela said.