Pmb High Court orders immediate return of R82 million to UThukela Municipality
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The Pietermaritzburg High Court has mandated the urgent return of R82 million that was extracted from the bank accounts of the uThukela District Municipality by service provider RASP Consultants CC.
The order, made on Monday, comes in the wake of a frantic application by the municipality, which argued that the action threatened to destabilise its essential operations.
The court's directive requires the funds to be returned within 48 hours, a critical move aimed at averting a financial crisis within the municipality following the attachment of its accounts by RASP Consultants.
The case centres around a water plant maintenance service tender that RASP held with uThukela between 2021 and 2022, an agreement that has since spiralled into a complex legal dispute.
The court proceedings featured advocate Griffiths Madonsela SC advocating for an indefinite suspension of any writs of execution and attachments made by Ladysmith Sheriff Rantesh Rajkumar.
Madonsela asserted, “Pending the finalisation of a subsequent application (Part B), the first and second respondents to be restrained and interdicted from initiating or issuing any new writ of execution.”
The court granted all the unopposed orders sought in the urgent application, though it refrained from declaring the writ of execution invalid.
This highly contentious dispute dates back to RASP’s claim against uThukela after missed payments during a period of municipal administration.
The municipality conceded to owing a considerable debt exceeding R100 million and agreed on a payment plan spread over 24 months, which, due to various reasons, became unmanageable.
Following the failure to honour a portion of the initial instalment due on December 15, 2025, the municipality sought a grace period, ultimately fulfilling the payment on January 13, 2026.
However, this led to an expedited court action by RASP, culminating in the attachment of R82 million from uThukela’s accounts shortly thereafter.
In the aftermath of losing access to its funds, uThukela’s city manager, Langelihle Jili, indicated that attempts to engage with RASP’s project manager, Roshan Sewpersad, were rebuffed amid demands for high-level meetings with the MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi.
The municipality's subsequent application (Part B) will proceed at a later stage. In this part, UThukela wants the court to consider its critical constitutional and statutory obligations and satisfy itself whether its accounts should be subject to attachment, as the municipality argues against their attachability.