GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - The DA party says the Western Cape High Court’s ruling, yesterday, in which the former Knysna mayor Mark Willemse's application for readmission to the party was dismissed, is a “welcome affirmation of the constitutionality and legality of the DA’s recall clause, and has important consequences for the George Council”.
Read a press release by DA George Constituency Head, Geordin Hill-Lewis, in which he explains what this holds for the mayoral position in George:
"The former Mayor of George, Melvin Naik, was challenging his termination on exactly the same basis as the Willemse application that was dismissed by the Court yesterday. This means that Mr Naik’s interdict falls away, and we can proceed to fill the Mayoral vacancy. He can still submit a fresh court application, although this would need to be on some other basis not covered in this judgement. It is difficult to see what basis this may be.
"The DA in the Western Cape will move forward to select a new Mayor for George with urgency. We will select a Mayor with integrity, compassion and a commitment to delivering excellence in government.
"We will also fill our other vacancies in the George caucus and fight the coming by-elections with determination for victory in all three of them.
"The DA has taken firm action to clean up George. We have done so because we want every DA voter to feel confident and justified in giving us their vote. Voters must know that where we find any substantive evidence of wrong-doing, or where we demonstrably do not meet the standards expected of every DA government, we will act swiftly. Our ongoing commitment is that if we see any further evidence of similar wrongdoing in George, we will take further action.
"This may seem like a time of instability for George. In fact, this instability is a temporary and necessary side-effect of the medicine that George needed. This is actually a time of renewal, and of moving forward. We look forward to new leadership in George.
"This legal victory is an important one. However, we expect there may be further legal challenges, as there always are. We are confident of our position and undeterred in our commitment to do what is right for the residents of George."
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