Despite reports that Grahamstown lawyer Paul Notyawa has been slapped with a five-year suspension by the ANC, he insists that he remains a member of the party and a councillor of Makana Municipality.
Despite reports that Grahamstown lawyer Paul Notyawa has been slapped with a five-year suspension by the ANC, he insists that he remains a member of the party and a councillor of Makana Municipality.
Media reports suggesting he had been shown the door by the ANC and the Municipality surfaced earlier this month, but neither the party nor Makana has confirmed this.
Notyawa has been in a protracted court battle against the Municipality and Cooperative Governance MEC Fikile Xasa over his appointment to the municipal manager job. Notyawa took legal action following his dismissal from the post.
He was appointed to the position in a Council meeting on 12 March last year. However, MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Fikile Xasa opted not to endorse his appointment, claiming that Notyawa did not meet the minimum requirements for the job.
The court case has prevented the Municipality advertising for a new Municipal Manager since his departure.
According to a confidential report discussed in a special council meeting on Wednesday, Notyawa filed a notice of withdrawal of his court application on 12 February and Xasa has since withdrawn his counter-application.
Makana’s application still stands and Notyawa has 20 days within which to file opposing affidavits.
It indicates that if Notyawa wants to challenge Xasa’s decision he will have to bring a fresh application. Until then, Council can proceed as if his application had been dismissed and advertise the post of municipal manager.
Responding to questions from Grocott’s Mail, acting municipal manager Riana Meiring said, “The municipality is going to advertise for a municipal manager and the item is going to come to the Council on the 10th of March and councillor Notyawa has withdrawn his application. In other words, there is no court case anymore.”
When asked about the withdrawal of his case against the MEC and Makana, Notyawa said, “The matter is sub judice. As an officer of the Court, myself, I would not want to comment about any matter which is currently before the Court.”
Meanwhile, in the same meeting, the Council was meant to declare a vacancy. This was after Meiring received a letter from ANC Chief Whip Julie Wells informing her that Notyawa had been suspended from the party for five years. According to the item, a letter had been submitted to the Chief Electoral Officer of the IEC on 9 February, declaring a vacancy in the Makana Council.
The Chief Electoral Officer acknowledged receiving the letter on the same day, according to the item.
The Chief Electoral Officer had 21 days from 9 February to inform the municipal manager who the next candidate on the party list was, so that person could be appointed to replace Notyawa.
However, the municipality is now backtracking on the matter, saying the item had been withdrawn to seek more clarity.
Speaking to Grocott’s Mail yesterday, Meiring said, “The item was withdrawn until full clarity can be achieved… [Notyawa] is still a councillor in the Council.”
Regarding his reported suspension by the ANC and councillor status, Notyawa said, “Those are internal matters of the organisation, and they are processed politically. I decline to comment about them publicly, save to say, I am still a member of the ANC, in good standing, until 2019, and I intend to keep my status that way forever.”
About his status in the Makana Council, he said, “I can safely say that I am still a councillor of the ANC, and I attended the last Council meeting held on 24 February.”
ANC regional secretary Scara Njadayi said they had received a letter from provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane, informed by a briefing between Mabuyane and the ANC Provincial Disciplinary Committee (PDC) of the ANC. The letter, Njadayi said, indicated Notyawa had been suspended and hadn't appealed his suspension.
Njadayi said they had queried this with the PDC and the National Disciplinary Committee (NDC) of the ANC.
As to whether Notyawa was still an ANC councillor or a member of the ANC, Njadayi said, because they were awaiting information from the disciplinary committee, and Notyawa had appealed the sanction, he couldn’t say.
A letter from Mabuyane dated 2 February and addressed to Wells and Njadayi indicates that Notyawa was suspended on 26 November following an internal disciplinary process. The letter, a copy of which is in Grocott’s Mails possession, says Notyawa is no longer member of the ANC and his membership has been suspended for five years.
“This means that he will no longer be serving as an ANC councillor at the Makana Local Municipality,” Mabuyane says in the letter.
Notyawa’s lawyers, Kaplan Blumberg, have challenged this in a letter addressed to national, provincial and local ANC structures and to the IEC.
“Our client’s rights are reserved should any steps be taken to exclude him from the Council and terminate his salary.”
Notyawa did attend the special council meeting on Wednesday.
anele@grocotts.co.za
