Opposition councillors drop lawsuit against Francistown City Council
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Wednesday July 30, 2025 06:00
Initially, 10 opposition councillors had initiated the intention to sue the council, but only six – the leader of opposition Thabo Nyambe, Moagi Koketso, Lilian Griesmeir, Lekono Mabengano, Lesego Kwambala, and Mpho Leladi – proceeded with the case against the Council.
The opposition councillors had accused Mayor Gaone Majere of favouring the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) councillors, thereby undermining the principles of proportional representation and justice in council committees.
In an interview with The Monitor, the city leader of the opposition, who is also the Mophane Ward Councillor, Nyambe, announced that they have dropped the lawsuit against the FCC.
Nyambe explained that they decided to drop the lawsuit after their lawyer advised them that the FCC would likely use technicalities to win the matter.
He stated that following their lawsuit, the FCC had responded with a notice of application to set aside the proceedings, citing irregularities in the notice of motion and issues with the confirmatory affidavits.
“FCC pointed out that the notice of motion did not specify the rule under which it was brought, contrary to Order 12 Rule 1 of the Rules of Court. FCC noted that the confirmatory affidavits, except for Leladi's, were commissioned at the same time (1:58 pm) as the founding affidavit. This suggested that the first five applicants had not read the founding affidavit before associating themselves with its averments,” he added.
Furthermore, he stated that the annexure to their founding affidavit was not initialled by the deponent or the office before which the affidavit was sworn, contrary to Order 13 Rule 16 of the Rules of the High Court.
Due to these technicalities, Nyambe stated that they withdrew the matter, with the intention to make a new application.
He gave an overview of the situation, stating that committee appointments took place during the Special Full Council in December.
He indicated that although the UDC provided a list of committees and representatives, they rejected the idea, arguing that it was not the proper procedure.
“They were able to obtain what they wanted because of their numbers. The opposing council members were 10 against 17,” he added.
Additionally, Nyambe noted that they argued that the committees should be divided equally per the Standing Orders.
“Whilst some opposition council members are in one committee, some council members are in four, making them dominate committees,” he said.
He further said the UDC council members abused their position to violate council standing orders and the law.