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Council Votes to Kick Odendaal, Jack et al Out After Narrow Legal Challenge

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Mandla Tyala writes about the judgement taken earlier today allowing the Council Meeting calling a Vote of No Confidence in Mayor Odendaal, Deputy Mayor Jack and Councillor Bill Harrington:

The Council meeting went ahead and 61/119 Councillors voted for the removal of the Mayor. A new coalition government, Speaker, Mayor and Mayco will now take seat in council.

Mandla writes:

Hello everyone. Unfortunately we ended up with a very narrow judgement today.

The judge elected to confine herself solely to whether the Speaker had discretion to call off the special meeting.

She arrived at a determination that the meeting has been lawfully convened within the stipulations of the law, notwithstanding our contention that it is based on a flawed rationale.

She did not address herself in any detail to all the other pertinent factors we raised:

  1. We prayed for “alternative relief”. If the Speaker has no power to call off the meeting then he must remove the motions from the agenda.
  2. We argued the irrationality of a special Council meeting debating motions based on non-existent audit findings which have been retracted by the AG.
  3. Equally irrational, we argued, is the notion of a special Council meeting deliberating and voting on a matter that is still serving in front of the Rules and Ethics Committee as per resolution of Council itself.

That committee has not even convened yet, and in terms of the principles of natural justice the “accused” has not even been afforded an opportunity to present his case, yet a special Council meeting is deliberating and voting on the matter.

Evidently the judge placed herself in a frame of mind that, as she puts it, we lodged the application chiefly “to pre-empt an anticipated adverse decision which may or may not eventuate at the meeting”.

She swept off all the prayers in one fell swoop: “It is not within the purview of this court to determine the likely outcome of the motions of no confidence WHETHER MERITORIOUS OR NOT”.

In my humble view as a legal ignoramus this special Council meeting is an egregious assault on the rule of law. Its outcome cannot and should not be allowed to stand. There are massive grounds to challenge its outcome.

This judge, dismissive as she may sound, even spurs our hand when she pronounces in the judgement: “In the event that any decisions are taken in Council in due course which are based on the findings of the sixth respondent (the AG) which have been withdrawn, such decisions could no doubt be attacked on the purported basis that they are irrational, arbitrary and inconsistent with the Constitution.

“I am of the view that is where the applicants’ remedy would lie though I cannot make definitive findings as the matter is not before me.”

All the best,

Mandla Tyala.

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