A newly appointed municipal manager in Limpopo is set to officially start his duties tomorrow despite a court bid to prevent him setting foot in the council building.
Sowetan previously reported that about 250 residents in the Mogalakwena local municipality made an application before the Limpopo high court in Polokwane demanding that Morris Maluleke’s appointment be declared unlawful. The matter has been postponed to September 6.
Respondents, including the municipality, want the case dismissed on the basis that the matter is not urgent and that applicants relied on information that was illegally leaked to them. Maluleke was the CFO of Madibeng Municipality, which under his watch, deposited millions in VBS Mutual Bank.
In an opposing affidavit filed before the court, the municipality’s outgoing acting municipal manager Hendrick Ngoepe states that background checks had shown that Maluleke had been cleared of any wrongdoing regarding VBS.
“Even more striking is the fact that the alleged VBS report on maladministration, actually contains an express prohibition of the use of its contents, unless authorised by the author and the department for which it was intended to wit, department of finance, North West provincial government,” Ngoepe states.
Ngoepe also goes into detail explaining that the meeting that led to Maluleke’s appointment on August 8 was legal, despite arguments that it was unlawful since it continued after being postponed by the speaker of council Pheladi Olifant. He argued that only councillors and not the speaker have the power to adjourn a meeting in terms of the rules.
The court must decide on the legality of the meeting and Maluleke’s appointment after two separate applications filed by Ephraim Mokoma and Samuel Sekgota. Both applications were joined by the court last week, but yesterday lawyers spent hours debating on whether the matters should be heard separately.
This was after it appeared that Sekgota’s lawyers had not yet submitted their papers to the court while there was one element where the applications differed. Mokoma’s lawyer Victor Sako said they were ready to proceed, saying that they had opposed the joining of the matter from the onset.
Sako said the delays were inconveniencing his clients. But Sekgota's legal representative Solly Bosomane was adamant that the matter stand down so they can file outstanding documents.
Sekgota and others want the court to declare that the appointment of the selection panel that interviewed Maluleke was also illegal, which is not contained in Mokoma's application.
Judge Gift Mashaba postponed the matter to next Tuesday to allow for Sekgota’s lawyers to file documents.
Mokoma had argued in court papers that special council meeting sat after instructions were given by ANC provincial secretary Reuben Madadzhe through a letter written to council speaker Pheladi Olifant, mayor Ngoako Taueatsoala and chief whip staff Tsebe, that the meeting must go ahead.
The municipality’s lawyer Popela Maake said he was confident that they would win because the residents' case lacked merit. Maake said Maluleke has already started with induction according to his appointment letter and would officially start working tomorrow, adding that he would remain in the position despite efforts to remove him.
mahopoz@sowetan.co.za
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