/ 18 August 2009

MPs’ eviction hearing set for September

The hearing of an application to evict two Congress of the People (Cope) members of Parliament from their parliamentary residences was postponed on Tuesday to September 8.

The MPs, Dennis Bloem and Bishop Tolo, were in the Cape High Court to hear the postponement.

Cope claims they are being victimised because they are members of the party.

The Department of Public Works says their homes in the parliamentary village of Pelican Park have been allocated to African National Congress (ANC) MPs Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.

It has offered them alternative accommodation in another parliamentary village.

The MPs’ lawyer, John Ngcebetsha, said on Tuesday their legal team would argue on September 8 that the application was not urgent, as the department claimed.

Bloem and Tolo have to file answering papers by August 26.

Cope senior whip in Parliament Lolo Mashiane told reporters the party believed other ways could have been found to resolve the matter than by taking it to court.

She said a house in Pelican Park was standing vacant, while another was occupied by a member of the Inkatha Freedom Party.

”Cope members are being victimised, harassed,” she said. — Sapa