The South African Local Government Association (Salga) on Wednesday welcomed Gauteng Cooperative Governance MEC Lebogang Maile’s decision to rescind the suspensions of two Democratic Alliance (DA) councillors calling his initial move drastic.
The MEC last week suspended City of Tshwane Speaker Katlego Mathebe and former Johannesburg speaker Vasco da Gama accusing them of abusing their office and being constitutional delinquents.
But in an unexpected move on Monday, Maile revoked the suspensions saying that the matter would be dealt with at council level.
Salga said it called a meeting with Maile as it was concerned by his initial decision to suspend the two DA councillors. It said it was pleased to learn from the MEC during that gathering that he had decided to revoke the suspensions.
The association said it hoped the rules of council would be applied when dealing with the matter further.
“In light of this decision, Salga anticipates that council processes will unfold. We appreciate the efforts taken by the MEC to meet and engage with Salga and in light of the decision taken by the MEC to rescind the suspension of the two councillors, that the due processes of council will be applied and further decisions to be taken should be informed by the council processes of the municipalities,” said Salga Gauteng chairperson councillor Busisiwe Modisakeng.