24 April
2009
460/2003 [2009] ZAECBHC 3
Weweje v MEC for Education, Eastern Cape and Another
6 April 2009
533/2008 [2009] ZAECBHC 4
Robain v MEC : Department of Health, Eastern Cape Province
Court to decide who runs Mnquma -
21 May
Two feuding government authorities are waiting for a landmark
judgment in the Eastern Cape against a section of the
Constitution.
The council for Mnquma Municipality in Butterworth last
Friday went to Bhisho High Court to wage a legal challenge against
the MEC for Local Government Sicelo Gqobana, who wants to take
control of the local authority by invoking section 139 of the
Constitution.
The legal battle has put two of the country's leading
constitutional law experts, Jeremy Gauntlett, representing Bhisho,
and Jan Heunis, for the municipality, on a collision course over
the Constitutional clause.
By invoking section 139 the provincial administration
believes it has the power to take over Mnquma Municipality's
executive and statutory functions.
Normally section 139 disputes are settled before they
reach court , making the matter a legal precedent for South
Africa. -
Dispatch Online website