NP LEADERS AGREE ON SUPPORT FOR LOCAL GOVT LAW

CAPE TOWN September 26 Sapa

National Party leaders at the heart of the local government
dispute agreed on Tuesday on conditional support for new election
legislation expected to come before Parliament next week.

NP leader FW de Klerk said he, Western Cape Premier Hernus
Kriel and Provincial Affairs Minister Roelf Meyer agreed
unanimously at a meeting on Tuesday morning that the party would
support legislation necessary to allow local elections to take
place.

However the NP would oppose the measure if it also covered
"unnecessary" issues such as the Presidential proclamations on
demarcation in the Western Cape, which were overturned in last
week's Constitutional Court decision.

"Agreement was reached on a strategy to promote this stand," de
Klerk said.

"If there is no success in making the legislation acceptable to
the NP, there is a possibility that it could be tested in the court
again."

Western Cape local government MEC Peter Marais and Cape NP
leader Dawie de Villiers were also at the meeting.

Last week the Constitutional Court found that a provision in
the Local Government Transition Act which allowed President Nelson
Mandela to issue proclamations was unconstitutional.

Two of these proclamations affected a NP-ANC clash over
demarcation in the Cap Metropole.

Earlier on Tuesday, DP national spokesman Ken Andrew said his
party would not rubber-stamp local government legislation simply to
get the NP and ANC out of a crisis of their own making.

He also said multiparty talks should be held before the new
legislation came before Parliament, in an attempt to reach
agreement on what should be done.

It was about time the NP and ANC learned some hard lessons,
consulted properly with others, and started getting things done
correctly first time around.

NP justice spokesman Danie Schutte said his party was shocked
that the ANC and Mandela were adamant they had not been defeated by
the court ruling.

They were clearly irresponsible in their stance that the ruling
supported central government's right to intervene in matters
"deemed important to the country's transition".

Pan Africanist Congress deputy president Dr Motsoke Pheko said
his organisation welcomed the court decision.

The ANC-led government had bungled the local election and
caused unnecessarily high costs for the taxpayer.

"If the government had listened to the PAC and others that the
elections be held according to the Constitution (it) would have
saved itself from this humiliation and exposure of its incompetence
and dictatorial practice."