Vindicated by the nullification of his suspension, Bitou municipality kingmaker Peter Lobese, the lone Active United Front (AUF) councillor, says he knew suspending him was a witch-hunt.
Council “suspended” Lobese on Tuesday minutes before an election for mayor was going to take place.
At the time, Lobese protested and verbally cast his vote for DA councillor Bill Nel as he was not allowed to vote.
This resulted in the vote again ending in a tie after Nel and ANC councillor Sandiso Gcabayi received six votes each in the 13-member council.
Council “suspended” Lobese in connection with maladministration allegations which included allegedly abusing grant funding and hiring bodyguards at R120,000 a month for nine months when he was mayor.
He was removed through a motion of no confidence when the ANC and DA voted for his axing.
But on Friday, Lobese said he was vindicated by local government MEC Anton Bredell’s refusal to ratify his suspension.
“I knew it was a witch-hunt,” he said.
In a leaked letter dated June 10, to council speaker, Euan Wildeman, Bredell effectively nullified Lobese’s suspension.
“I [Bredell] have no right to suspend any councillor without the municipal council taking the councillor through a disciplinary process... it is recommended that your council apply provisions of 14(1)(a) or (b) of the code of conduct, before approaching me in my capacity as MEC.”
Bredell’s spokesperson, James-Brent Styan, said the letter was authentic.
Bredell encouraged council to follow due processes in disciplining Lobese.
“In the circumstances, your request for me to suspend councillor Lobese and the decision [taken] in council has no merit in law and subsequently I cannot adhere to the request,” Bredell wrote.
The election of a new mayor has been a hotly contested affair since Lobese was ousted in April, but attempts to elect his replacement have failed because of meetings not having a quorum or votes ending in a tie.
At one stage the DA and AUF claimed they were in charge after electing each other mayor, deputy mayor and speaker, despite Wildeman postponing the meeting.
The Cape Town high court intervened last week, and interdicted DA and AUF councillors from calling themselves the legitimately elected political bosses of the Plettenberg Bay council.
The court then ordered Wildeman to call a meeting on Tuesday where the election of the mayor would not only be on the agenda, but it would be the first item dealt with.
However, on Tuesday Lobese’s suspension was the first order of business, with Nel saying they would legally challenge it.
He said this was in contravention of the court order.
On Friday, Nel said the purported suspension of Lobese proved the “ANC was power hungry”.
“It proves that the actions of the minority councillors are illegal and in desperation.
“They are trying everything to cling to power and have done everything to distort democracy.”
Asked if they would continue with their threatened court action to challenge Tuesday’s proceedings, Nel said: “There are some other issues that we still need to consult with our legal team and will decide at a later stage what we do.”
Repeated calls and messages to Wildeman went unanswered by print deadline on Friday.
Council is expected to meet on June 17 to elect a mayor.
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