By-elections in wards 35 and 37 postponed

The Port Elizabeth High Court will rule on Friday whether or not DA turncoat councillors Trevor Louw and Neville Higgins are still councillors.  

The IEC has, meanwhile, postponed the by-elections in wards 35 and 37, the wards they have been leading since 2016.

The Port Elizabeth High Court declared in December that the two are no longer councillors.  Higgins and Louw then applied for leave to appeal against the decision.

IEC regional supervisor Crosby Bacela said acting municipal manager Peter Neilson wrote to his office withdrawing the two vacancies in council and the IEC was thus compelled to postpone the by-elections.

"The municipal manager felt that according to Section 18 subsection 1 of the Superior Courts Act, when someone appeals a decision of the court, all activities around that person must be suspended.

"The IEC complied with this and decided to halt the by-election.  The two still remain councillors," Bacela said.

The Superior Courts Act of 2013 states that unless the court under exceptional circumstances orders otherwise, the operation and execution of a decision which is the subject of an application for leave to appeal or of an appeal, is suspended pending the decision of the application or appeal.

Meanwhile, during the first council sitting of 2019 last week, councillors spent more than 40 minutes debating whether should be allowed in the chambers at councillor.