Former Amathole boss Thandekile Mnyimba loses court appeal

Former Amathole district municipality boss Thandekile Mnyimba was dealt yet another blow when he lost his bid to overturn a high court ruling declaring his reappointment invalid.

Mnyimba launched his appeal after his reappointment was overturned in 2022.

This came after ADM employees launched a review application in June 2022.

In July 2022, the high court in East London declared his fiveyear employment contract invalid.

Mnyimba sought an order rescinding the default judgment granted by judge Belinda Hartle in favour of the employees.

On Tuesday, the high court dismissed Mnyimba’s application with costs.

In his judgment, judge John Smith said the ADM presented compelling facts that showed the decision to appoint Mnyimba for another term was fundamentally flawed and unlawful.

He said it appeared that proper procedures were not followed and that the ADM’S council did not endorse the appointment as was required by law

Mnyimba, he said, had failed to challenge facts put up by the ADM which compelled the inference that the decision to extend his appointment was fundamentally flawed and invalid.

“These relate, in particular, to the allegation that [the] municipal council was not called to vote on his appointment as municipal manager,” Smith said.

“If that was the case, it would vitiate his appointment and render it unlawful and invalid.

“His failure to challenge this assertion means that he has failed to establish a valid defence to the review application.”

Mnyimba confirmed receipt of the judgment on the matter.

His legal team have studied the judgment and have referred their legal brief to the senior counsel.

“We intend to appeal the judgment but are awaiting a full legal opinion from the senior counsel,” Mnyimba said.

The appeal bid of would-be ADM chief financial officer Lubabalo Manjingolo also hit a snag last week.

Manjingolo resorted to the court to force the municipality to allow him to begin work despite his appointment by the council being opposed by cooperative governance MEC Zolile Williams.

In 2023, Manjingolo failed in his court bid to force the municipality to honour its offer of employment as its CFO.

In heads of argument, ADM’S counsel Sinclair Nhlapo ripped into Majingolo’s application for leave to appeal and described it as just a waste of the court’s time as the order would have no practical effect.

“Put differently, the order will not have any practical effect upon the existing controversy,” Nhlapo said.

“Furthermore, the issue is of no future public importance.

“The application should thus be dismissed with costs.”

Manjingolo declined to comment on Thursday.

The ADM has welcomed the court victories, saying the latest development boded well for its efforts to ensure stability.

“The ADM is pleased with both of the outcomes which reaffirms its views in respect of both cases,” acting municipal spokesperson Sisa Msiwa said.

“It believes this will contribute towards the stability and continued efforts to change perceptions on the direction the ADM is now taking.

“Any other developments in both cases will be dealt with as circumstances justify.”

Msiwa said the municipality’s focus was to ensure that it provided its communities with the basic services as per its mandate.

“We are busy preparing for our institutional strategic planning session to ensure that, as we move forward, our positioning is aligned to the concept of heavy lifting in action which will see ADM making a difference in its water and sanitation methods,” she said.

His failure to challenge this assertion means that he has failed to establish a valid defence to the review application