DA welcomes draft by-laws relating to dogs, but questions remain
by Cllr. Mary Goby — DA Councillor in Ward 28, Ekurhuleni
Date: 02 August 2021
Release: Immediate
Type: Media statement
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Ekurhuleni welcomes the long-overdue draft by-laws relating to dogs, presented at the Hybrid Council Meeting on the 29th of July 2021.
The draft by-law is the result of the City of Ekurhuleni’s (CoE) need to develop a uniform set of by-laws that will be used to control, regulate and govern the licensing of dogs, to which the DA has been repeatedly encouraging.
The DA also welcomes that the Metro will be approaching and collaborating with the SPCA in enforcing the by-laws, specifically relating to impounding dogs. This serves as a cautionary reminder of the valuable services they provide to our communities.
The DA, however, notes a number of concerns — mainly regarding the ANC-led Metro’s ability and capacity to implement the by-laws. In addition, there are a number of confusing anomalies in the draft by-law relating to the administering of fines, and whether internal complex rules take precedent over the by-laws, amongst others. The Party hopes that these issues will be rectified once the draft goes through the public participation process.
It is also with concern that the DA notes that the City relies heavily on the SPCA, however, around R3-million was allocated to the Organisation in the 2021/22 Budget. With such a measly grant and the reliance that the Metro has on the SPCA, it has the potential to create pressure on their already strained resources. The DA thereby appeals to Executive Mayor, Cllr. Mzwandile Masina, to allocate relief funding to the SPCA from his discretionary fund to assist with the huge task that is expected of them due to the lack of by-law enforcement from the Metro itself.
The DA, as its mandated function as the official opposition in the CoE, will work to ensure that the by-law is implemented and that the ANC-led administration is held to account once it takes effect.
#Time4Change
*Coalition Partners: African Independent Congress (AIC), Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), Patriotic Alliance (PA) and Independent Ratepayers Association of South Africa (IRASA)
Cllr. Mary Goby
DA Councillor in Ward 28, Ekurhuleni
