Court’s decision on mayor imminent
The outcome of an application to the Cape Town High Court, to have the election of the George Mayor reviewed and declared null and void, is expected later this week. A collective of opposition parties - the PBI, ANC, EFF and AIC believes that the election of Leon van Wyk as mayor was procedurally flawed. Their refusal to accept Van Wyk as mayor has caused friction in Council since his election on 22 May. The matter was heard in court last Friday, 7 August.
The SAC party is also listed as one of the applicants, but George Herald received conflicting information on their position in this matter. SAC Councillor Mercia Draghoender did not respond to a request for comment.
The list of respondents includes George Municipality, Municipal Manager Trevor Botha, Speaker Gerrit Pretorius, Mayor Leon van Wyk and the Democratic Alliance (DA party).
The mayoral candidate of the opposition, Virgill Gericke of the PBI, said they believe their legal team has presented a solid case. “It would be premature to pre-empt a particular outcome. We respect the rule of law in our country,” said Gericke. “The Court has reserved judgement and therefore the matter is still sub judice. We will await the final outcome of the Court.”
As one of the respondents, the DA withdrew its opposition on Friday. Asked about the reason for this decision, George DA Constituency Head Geordin Hill-Lewis said the DA is not opposing the application because it was not involved in the matter. He said whenever the DA receives court papers in which they are a respondent, the party reacts “by default” saying they will oppose the application, to give them time to assess the case. “However, in this case, the DA should never have been a respondent. It is really up to Council and the Speaker to explain why the election was fair and just. We therefore withdrew our opposition, saying we will accept the court’s ruling on the matter,” said Hill-Lewis.
Speaker Pretorius said it was a surprise to him that, after the opposition’s full participation, they wanted to declare the election of the mayor as invalid. “We really need a mature reflection on what happened here and respect the lawyers’ efforts to bring about justice and fairness,” said Pretorius. “Personally, I think this whole exercise is a total waste of time and money, which will cost the taxpayers thousands of rand.” DA Chief whip of Council Marlene Barnardt said the entire election process was explained to all the whips of Council. “Everyone was aware of everything,” said Barnardt. The election took place as a virtual meeting, in three different venues. Councillors could opt to witness the proceedings from home, and merely enter a voting station to cast their secret vote.