Sakeliga takes action against state delays in court cases over municipal failure
29 March 2023
State respondents are unconscionably delaying critical litigation over municipal decay in the North West province. Delay on the part of the state and an apparent lack of prioritization of matters of constitutional importance in the High Court in Mahikeng exposes communities and business people to escalating state failure.
This is the state of affairs after the High Court in Mahikeng last week once again postponed Sakeliga and its litigation partners' application regarding municipal collapse in the Naledi and Ditsobotla municipalities. In two applications before the High Court, Sakeliga is asking, among other things, for mandatory national intervention, financial administration and interim management of municipal bank accounts by independent auditors to act as special masters at the behest of the High Court.
Sakeliga is concerned about the lack of prioritization that this matter currently enjoys. After two previous postponements of the matter, the High Court ordered on 13 February 2023 that the September 2022 urgent application, together with Sakeliga's already pending application for the appointment of a paymaster, should be heard on 23 and 24 March 2023. The cases were set down for a special hearing spanning over two days. However, already early in the morning on the 23rd of March, Sakeliga's legal team was confronted by the reality of several other applications which were also enrolled before the same court, and which would seize most of the court's time during the allocated two days. Further affidavits by, among others, the Minister of Finance and the Ditsobotla Municipality, which were filed at the eleventh hour the night before, then rendered postponement of Sakeliga’s cases inevitable.
Given the risk that further delays may be brought about by the court or the respondents, urgent further case management is now requested from the court, so that new special hearing dates can be determined.