Cape Town cries foul after councillor ‘asked to leave’ human settlements meeting

THE city of Cape Town has cried foul after one of its councillors sent to attend a Department of Human Settlements meeting in Johannesburg this week was asked to leave the meeting venue by Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu.

Ms Sisulu is said to have asked Cape Town mayoral committee member for human settlements Benedicta van Minnen to leave Monday’s meeting arguing that it was only for mayors.

The incident is likely to put further strain on the relationship between the city of Cape Town and Ms Sisulu. Last year the minister and the city clashed over the Lwandle Commission of Inquiry. She also accused the Democratic Alliance-led city of "buying" the title of World Design Capital in 2014.

According to Ms van Minnen, Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille could not attend the meeting because she had a previous long-standing commitment that she could not cancel for a meeting where she was given only three days’ notice.

"She communicated her unavailability to the minister’s office the very next day, but added that she would be sending me as her representative in my capacity as mayoral committee member for human settlements. Considering that the meeting pertained to my directorate, both myself and the mayor felt it apt that I should attend the meeting," Ms van Minnen said.

"This morning (Monday) I proceeded to travel to Johannesburg to attend the meeting. An e-mail was sent from the minister’s office ... when I was already en route to the meeting once more indicating that I was not allowed to attend. Upon my arrival, I entered the meeting.

"About 40 minutes into the discussions, Minister Sisulu arrived and asked me to leave the meeting venue. She personally blocked me from taking part in the discussion that directly impacts my directorate, and service delivery in the city at large," Ms van Minnen said.

She said Ms Sisulu has "once again misused her position as the national minister of human settlements to purposefully block service delivery in the City of Cape Town".

Ms Sisulu’s spokesman, Ndivhuwo Mabaya, said that Ms van Minnen was not an acting mayor and therefore her presence at the meeting "would not have assisted with anything, as she does not have mayoral executive powers — she was just there to take minutes".

"The city was informed that only mayors will attend the meeting. Mayor de Lille issued a number of media statements attacking the national Department of Human Settlements in the past six months; it was only fair for her to attend the meeting herself so that she can explain herself on a number of issues. We suspect she did not attend the meeting to run away from them," Mr Mabaya said.

- BDLive