Tara Turkington
The African National Congress-controlled municipality in the Northern Cape town of De Aar failed to pay an overdue account to a law firm run by a Democratic Alliance leader in the province so the town was brought to a near standstill.
The Emthanjeni municipality’s moveable assets from the traffic police’s car to the staff’s computers were attached by the sheriff of the court and removed. The municipality then brought a high court interim interdict against the sheriff, and the assets were returned a day later.
But the court case is raging on. Should the municipality lose the case, it will have to fork out about R1-million or face the sheriff’s removals vans again.
The saga started when the council decided to stop using the services of local law firm Joseph and Van Rensburg in January.
The DA’s deputy leader in the province, Harry Rich, is a senior partner in the firm, which had handled the municipality’s legal matters for 47 years. The firm submitted an invoice for R70 000 for services rendered, which the municipality refused to pay.
Joseph and Van Rensburg took the matter to court and won a summary judgement in which the municipality was ordered to pay R430 000 (the original R70 000 plus legal costs and interest).
Rich says the municipality signed an acknowledgement of debt for the R430 000 and promised to provide 13 post-dated cheques to pay off the
rest. However, town manager Faried Manuel subsequently “turned around and said they wouldn’t pay”, said Rich.
Rich then got a letter of execution and the local sheriff attached all the municipality’s assets three weeks ago including the traffic police’s car and motorbike, the town manager’s desk, all the municipality’s computers, chairs and tables and a machine that dispenses pre-paid electricity coupons.
“The municipality was brought to a standstill,” said Rich this week.
“The sheriff started with the town manager’s desk, then took everything he could move. Nobody could pay their accounts and no one working there could do any work. I don’t want to do the municipality any harm I’ve lived in this town for 21 years. But what else could I do?”
The following day the municipality won an urgent interdict from the high court in Kimberley for its assets to be temporarily returned, and the case was postponed until August 17. The municipality argued it wanted to appeal against the original judgement that Rich be paid R430 000.
The property seized remains under attachment by the sheriff, which means that although it may use it for now, the municipality may not dispose of it in any way.
Rich is confident that his firm is going to win the case, which will cost the already struggling municipality about R1-million at the end of the day, once his costs and their costs have been tallied.
He says that if the municipality was serious about appealing against the judgement, it would have put up the R216 000 security needed for such an appeal.
“I can’t see that I can lose this case,” said Rich. “If I do, I don’t deserve to call myself a lawyer.”
The leader of the DA in the Northern Cape, Pieter Saaiman, has criticised the Emthanjeni municipality.
“These guys are unprofessional and have no respect for procedures. They can’t rid themselves of the struggle mode of not paying.
“But this is not their money it’s taxpayers’ money they’re wasting. It’s ridiculous that a bill of R70 000 could now become R1-million.”
Manuel was tight-lipped about the case. “I can’t comment because it’s sub judice,” he said.