Ditsobotla Local Municipality mired in legal wrangling over unpaid lawyers fees

Court slaps council with punitive costs

- By Boitumelo Tshehle

The troubled Lichtenburg-based Ditsobotla Local Municipality in the North West province has suffered another financial setback after the North West High Court ordered it to pay higher legal costs to a company that took it to court, adding to its list of financial woes.

This came after its legal counsel, Morathi & Mataka Attorneys, dropped the case a few days before the hearing due to the municipality’s failure to pay the lawfirm’s legal fees.

The municipality has recently encountered several legal and administrative challenges, including public criticism over governance and service delivery.

A series of service delivery protests have been reported, and big companies like Clover have relocated from the area, a move that has left thousands of people unemployed.

The court order to pay the legal costs, which will worsen the municipality’s financial situation, was a product of a dispute over contract that was signed in September 2021 by Kawo Construction and the municipality for road rehabilitation in Lichtenburg and Burgersdorp.