Durban - Umgeni Water’s former board members launched an urgent application in the Pietermaritzburg High Court yesterday against Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s decision to remove them and appoint an interim board.
Nine of the 14 former board members including Visvin Reddy; Siboniso Shabalala; William Mapena; Teboho Nkhahle; Nompumelelo Chamane; Mbali Ndlovu; Simosenkosi Chamane; Suleman Badat and Thandwa Mthembu asked the court for an urgent order to interdict the interim board from operating.
The respondents in the matter are the minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, members of the interim board and Umgeni Water.
In court papers, the applicants asked “that the interim board be and are hereby interdicted and restrained from assuming office and executing and/or performing any functions of the Board of Umgeni Water” and that the chief executive of Umgeni Water, as the accounting officer, be authorised in terms of the Public Finance Management Act to exercise the powers of the board.
The applicants asked the court to declare “unlawful” and to “review and set aside” the minister’s decision to disband the Umgeni Water Board, which was communicated to them on August 3.
They also asked for the minister’s decision to appoint an interim board to be declared “unlawful” and to be “reviewed and set aside”.
In his founding affidavit, Reddy said he had brought the application to court in his personal capacity and on behalf of the other co-applicants and in the public interest.
Reddy said he had been a member of the board since May 1 last year and his tenure of office had “summarily” been brought to an end on August 3 when the minister “purported to terminate” his board membership.
He said he had reacted to the “summary” termination with a letter in which he had asked for the decision to be reviewed, failing which he would take the matter to court.
Reddy said in his affidavit that he was seeking a review of the decision to disband the board on the grounds that board members were not given the opportunity to be heard as required by section 6 (2)(c) of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act of 2000.
He said the minister had also taken the decision contending that there had been no Cabinet approval of the board members while there was no requirement in the law to get its approval.
“The decision is irrational, not authorised by the empowering provision and is otherwise unconstitutional and unlawful,” Reddy said.
He said the disbanded board had been appointed by the former minister, Gugule Nkwinti.
Judge Pieter Bezuidenhout postponed the matter until later next week and gave the minister and Umgeni Water until August 18 to prepare their answering affidavits. The court further recorded that an undertaking had been given on behalf of the minister that the interim board will not hold any meetings before August 28.
The issue of costs was reserved.
The Mercury