Cabinet action on Sakeliga’s Ditsobotla case due this week

A decision is due this week by the Cabinet following Sakeliga’s demand that the National Executive take over public administration and service delivery in Ditsobotla Local Municipality.

Last month, Sakeliga notified President Cyril Ramaphosa, Minister of COGTA Velinkosini Hlabisa, and other cabinet members that we would pursue personal cost orders against them unless they comply with our legal demand to implement national executive intervention in Ditsobotla under section 139(7) of the Constitution.

Following our demand, the State Attorney, on behalf of the President and Minister of COGTA, informed Sakeliga that the Minister would be recommending section 139(7) intervention to the Cabinet.

However, no actual action in accordance with our legal demand has been taken, notwithstanding that the National Executive and the North West Province have all publicly conceded our case that national intervention under section 139(7) is warranted.

Shortly after our notification and the reply from the State Attorney last month, Minister Hlabisa publicly acknowledged the crisis in Ditsobotla.

Asked what he is going to do about Sakeliga’s demands, he stated: “We are going to present a proposal for the national government intervention in terms of section 139(7). The following Tuesday , the matter will be serving before Cabinet and I am confident that the Cabinet is going to approve the intervention by the national government to bring order and stability in that embattled municipality.”

However, when asked about Sakeliga’s intention to hold him, the President, and other government officials personally accountable for costs unless they comply with our demands, Minister Hlabisa appeared to dangerously misunderstand the situation.

“I don’t think,” he said, “we will reach a stage of litigation between us and the businesspeople. We are going to engage them immediately, once I pass through Cabinet committee on Tuesday and the Cabinet actual executive on Tuesday the following week , that ‘Here is our decision; this is how we are going to intervene in order to ensure that they receive the services they want’.”

Contrary to Minister Hlabisa’s contention, the facts are actually as follows:

1. The government has for years already been at “a stage of litigation” with Sakeliga and our business and community partners. In fact, the government has long waged lawfare with taxpayer money, by opposing and delaying without justification legal processes aimed at forcing the government to act. Minister Hlabisa and President Ramaphosa, along with the Minister of Finance and Minister of Water and Sanitation are, among others, all respondents in the ongoing litigation.

2. Businesses are not taking up this fight merely because they are not receiving any services, but because state failure, the Cabinet’s dereliction of duty, and government’s repeated obstruction of businesses’ efforts to rectify matters are destroying the life of our towns and all our communities.

In the meantime, Sakeliga’s litigation continues and our attorneys are currently preparing supplementary affidavits. The only way the National Executive can have the litigation stopped is for them to comply with our demand to implement section 139(7).

Should the Cabinet continue to remain non-compliant, it would aggravate its breach of duty. In that case, we would alert the court to the Cabinet’s failure to co-operate in a fitting manner with Sakeliga in Ditsobotla.

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See our previous press release here.