DA to launch urgent court bid to challenge Trollip removal

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane has confirmed his party will file court papers on Tuesday to review the removal of Athol Trollip as Nelson Mandela Bay mayor and have it declared invalid
, report the Mail and Guardian.

In a joint presser in Cape Town on Tuesday, Maimane and Trollip made the party’s intention known in reaction to the events which transpired in the Nelson Mandela Bay council on Monday which led to Trollip’s ousting.

According to various reports the dismissal of Trollip has seen the emergence of a coalition of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the United Democratic Movement and the ANC, Maimane said.

“It’s a unity of corruption. I think they’ve taken a lead from Bathabile Dlamini: what keeps them together is the smallanyana skeletons,” Maimane quipped as quoted by the M&G.

The party believes the Municipal Structures Act was violated when Trollip was removed in a heated council meeting after speaker Jonathan Lawack was axed in a motion of no confidence.

Trollip, meanwhile, is adamant he is still mayor.

“I do believe I’m still the mayor. I believe what transpired after the replacement of the speaker yesterday was unlawful,” Trollip said as quoted by the M&G.

Both Trollip and Maimane allege that one of the reasons behind the newly formed coalition is to loot municipal coffers to fund 2019 election campaigns.

“Two years after the change came to our city [when the coalition was established]... the people who wanted to steal our city had run out of money,” Trollip said of the ANC.

Source: Mail and Guardian 

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