EThekwini mayor suffers setback in court
THE Durban High Court has ordered eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede to personally pay the costs of the legal application brought against her by the DA.
Last month, the DA approached the court after the SABC reported that Gumede had made remarks equating the anti-Jacob Zuma marches to treasonous acts.
The mayor’s office had immediately challenged the reports, saying the mayor had in fact been referring to illegal marches. An audio clip was released where the mayor is heard talking about illegal marches.
The comments were made at a time when the DA was preparing to hold an anti-Zuma march in Durban on April 7.
A day before the march, the DA approached the court seeking an interdict against Gumede.
Advocate Natalie Lange, who represented the DA in the matter, said the party’s application had three legs.
“One was to interdict her from further saying the marches were tantamount to treason, and secondly, that she was not allowed to have anyone arrested for taking part in the march,” she said. The court granted the interdict.
The third leg of the application was that the mayor had to show cause why she shouldn’t be held personally liable for the costs of the application.
On Monday, Gumede was to present her argument in court on why she should not be held liable for costs. But neither she nor her legal team were in court. Lange said the mayor’s name was called, but no one showed up.
The mayor’s spokesperson, Mthunzi Gumede, confirmed that there was no representation of the mayor, and said this had sparked an investigation on how the matter was handled by the city’s legal services.
He said the matter had been referred to the eThekwini legal services because the mayor had been served in her capacity as eThekwini councillor.
“We have taken a decision to (apply to) have this high court order rescinded because it was obtained on a falsity; for the reason that at the time when the order was finalised, we had already received a retraction and an apology from SABC News.”
He said retractions were run on Ukhozi and Lotus FM bulletins on April 13.
“We are taking this matter forward,” Gumede said.
Reacting to the ruling, the DA’s provincial leader, Zwakele Mncwango, called it a victory for democracy.
“The DA was forced to bring this application in defence of the people of eThekwini who wanted to protest peacefully, yet were under threats of violence and arrest from the mayor.
“We will continue to hold autocratic ANC politicians to account,” Mncwango vowed.