UDM in court over deputy mayor’s removal

THE United Democratic Movement has approached the courts in an effort to reverse councillor Mongameli Bobani’s removal as deputy mayor of the Eastern Cape’s Nelson Mandela Bay metro.

The party went the legal route following the DA’s failure to reverse the decision yesterday.

The UDM had threatened to pull out of the coalition agreement and seek legal remedy if the DA refused to reinstate Bobani to his influential position as the metro’s second citizen.

However, the UDM made a U-turn yesterday by not pulling out of the coalition, although it did go ahead with the court action.

UDM president General Bantu Holomisa had threatened to pull out “of that nonsense” if the council decision was not reversed.

In a dramatic turn of events yesterday, DA Federal Council chairperson James Selfe said the party welcomed Holomisa’s “apparent commitment” that the UDM would remain in the coalition governing the Eastern Cape’s largest metro, comprising Port Elizabeth, Despatch and the industrial town of Uitenhage.

Selfe said they were, however, concerned about Holomisa’s intention to approach the courts over the matter.

Riddled

“One of the main purposes of forming coalition governments, in NMB and elsewhere, was to make a distinct break from the previous ANC administrations, which were riddled with corruption and maladministration,” said Selfe.

Bobani, who was ousted with 60 votes from the DA, ACDP, Cope and Patriotic Alliance, was accused of undermining the administration by voting with the ANC on numerous occasions.

The ANC and the EFF walked out of the council cham- bers as voting on the no-confidence motion was in progress.

Selfe urged Holomisa to “not waste any further time, to put the interests of the residents of the metro first and to nominate a new UDM councillor to take Mr Bobani’s place in the government”.

Holomisa said the UDM had been committed to the coalition for some time, “and we are still committed”.

“To demonstrate our bona fides we wrote to the DA to say they must reinstate Bobani because he was removed illegally by them, by flouting regulations and procedures of the municipality. They said they were not going to do that,” he said.

Holomisa, a former environment and tourism minister, said the UDM approached the courts yesterday “for the lawyers to say the last word on how the Bobani matter was handled in the council”.

He said the DA and Speaker Jonathan Lawack and individual councillors in the council chambers last Thursday “were going to be cited in our papers”.

This was important because if legal costs were to be awarded, each councillor would be held responsible for costs, he said. The UDM did not know how long the legal process would take.

Threatened

Bobani had threatened that he would show up at work yesterday, despite having been removed as deputy mayor.

But when contacted yesterday, he seemed to have done an about-turn, saying: “I’m not at work, we are busy… our legal fundis said I must not go near my workplace until they have sorted out this matter.”

His municipal car had been taken away from him and his salary had been stopped as he was no longer deputy mayor, DA executive mayor Athol Trollip had earlier told Independent Newspapers.

Despite repeated attempts, Trollip could not be reached for comment.