POLITICS

DA to take MDB diktat on review – James Selfe

CFE says Board’s decision on demarcations of outer boundaries fraught with party political bias, is irrational

DA to take Demarcation Board decision on review

27 August 2015

The DA will today take on review the Municipal Demarcation Board’s (MDB) decision to go ahead with its unilateral municipal demarcations of outer boundaries on account that this decision is fraught with bias, riddled with party-political motivations and is, therefore, irrational and should be set aside.

The MDB, the regulatory authority that is charged with determining the boundaries of municipalities across the country, should do so independently and without party-political interference.

This comes after the MDB, on 19 August 2015, wrote to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Pravin Gordhan, and informed him that the Board had, in fact, already made its decision on the 17th and 18th of August 2015 to confirm all previous decisions, without exception. This means that the Board has, in direct contravention of due process, completely ignored the objections submitted by the DA and other persons/groups, to the Board.

As such the DA will make an application to the High Court to challenge the decisions made by the Board based on the irrationality of the decision in and of itself and the following concerns:

The action required of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in terms of section 23 of the Local Government: Municipal Demarcation Act, to determine whether the proposed boundary changes affect representation of voters, and accordingly whether the changes can be implemented immediately or must wait until the next local government elections;

The IEC dividing the national voters roll into segments reflecting the changed municipal boundaries;

The MECs publishing fresh or amended establishment notices for the changed municipalities; and

The MECs determining the numbers of the members of the Councils in the affected municipalities.

Of greater significance, if the Board’s existing decisions are put into effect, and later set aside, the results could be serious. 

Should the courts make a late determination on the Board’s decisions, it could have adverse effects on the preparation of municipalities for elections.

Suffice it to say that the Board’s decisions in this regard could have far reaching ramifications for the discharge of free and fair elections which are a cornerstone of our constitutional democracy.

Statement issued by James Selfe MP, Chairperson of the DA’s’ Federal Executive, August 27 2015