Maiketso ponders next move after court loss

Chakalisa Dube | Wednesday February 26, 2014 00:25

 

Judge Zibani Makwade last Friday dismissed with costs a case in which the former mayor was seeking condonation for his reinstatement case to be heard out of time. 

“The judge reserved the reasons for his ruling and said that he will avail them at a later date. Once I have been furnished with the reasons for the ruling, I will consider if it is viable to appeal the ruling or not, based on the advice I will receive from my lawyers.

“Of course I am disappointed with the ruling because I had thought the reasons we advanced for demanding condonation were strong. My finances will also determine whether I launch an appeal or not,” said the Councillor for Francistown Central yesterday. Maiketso added that he was expecting to get reasons for the ruling before the end of today. He has 14 working days from the date of the ruling to appeal.

Maiketso was toppled as Mayor in September 2012 through a motion of no confidence. He subsequently failed to challenge his removal and demand for reinstatement through court within the required four months.

He only approached the city council seeking reinstatement last March, but FCC refused on the grounds that Maiketso had sat on his rights for too long.

Maiketso approached FCC after the Court of Appeal ruled in February last year that a mayor cannot be removed from office through a motion of no confidence in a case involving Lekang Mukokomani who was ousted as the Mayor of Selebi-Phikwe in 2012.

However, regulations governing councils were recently changed to allow a mayor to be toppled through a motion of no confidence.

After the FCC refusal, Maiketso approached the courts in the middle of last year fighting not only to be reinstated, but also for his case to be heard out of time.

In his court application explaining the delay in approaching the courts, Maiketso said after he was ousted, he sought legal advice and was told that he would be trying to be a pacesetter if he fought his removal because at the time, mayors and chairpersons of councils were being removed from office in a similar fashion. “To give an example, councillors of the North West District, the South East District and Kgatleng District removed their chairpersons, but none of the ousted people initiated legal proceedings for reinstatement.

“It is my humble submission that the prevailing circumstances at the time, coupled with my financial instability experienced prior to moving this application, was a nerve-wrecking risk that was too ghastly for me to contemplate legal action,” he averred in his application mid last year.  He stated that at the time of his removal, there was no free legal aid, which now the government has established. If there was, he could have seized the opportunity to challenge his removal expeditiously, he said.

“Further, when the time came (after the Court of Appeal ruling) for me to contemplate instituting legal proceedings against the respondents, I thought to settle this matter amicably with the first respondent - the FCC - to no avail.

“That also contributed to the delay in filing my application,” he said. Both the city council and Kgalajwe maintained in court that the matter could not be heard out of time because Maiketso had sat on his rights for too long. Tumisang Mokobi represented Maiketso while Wada Nfila acted for the city council.

Kgalajwe, who was cited as the second respondent in the case, was represented by Tshepiso Katse.