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The Democratic Alliance in eThekwini has written to the speaker, Cllr Thabani Nyawose, calling upon him to urgently convene a meeting of all party whips to deliberate on a date for a special sitting of council. This comes after the DA filed a motion to dissolve eThekwini council. In terms of the Municipal Structures Act, the motion must be deliberated on at a special sitting convened specifically for that purpose. (See letter here)

The Speaker is now seized with the obligation to act in terms of the provisions of Section 34 of the Municipal Structures Act which stipulates as follows:
(1) A municipal council may dissolve itself at a meeting called specifically for this purpose, by adopting a resolution dissolving the council with a supporting vote of at least two thirds of the
Councillors.

If this motion passes in council, it means that the residents of eThekwini can rescue the city by installing a competent local government. Fresh elections must ensue within 90 days of the resolution being passed in council. The affected residents cannot wait until 2026 for local government elections. Accordingly, the DA has initiated motions in all three spheres of government, calling for support for the dissolution of the embattled municipality. The ANC’s knee jerk reactions indicate panic and no clear understanding of the Municipal Structures Act as they flounder with responses.

The DA’s firm stance and resolve is informed by exhausting all local remedies to fix eThekwini. eThekwini is consumed by failures on all fronts - water network collapses, electricity grid failures, E. coli-infested beaches, sewer spillages, uncollected waste, a shambolic parks and recreation unit, lack of by-law enforcement and general decay city wide. If we do not act now, there will be nothing left to save.

As it stands more than a million residents are left without water on a daily basis.

This motion is a clarion call to everyone to stand firm behind the DA, to rescue eThekwini. It is the DA's unwavering belief that only a DA government can rescue eThekwini Municipality ,as we have ably demonstrated where we currently govern.

Issued by Cllr Yogis Govender - DA eThekwini EXCO Member