The eight-month wait for a constitutional court ruling on the Khutsong cross-border municipalities case was "suspicious", the SACP said yesterday.

The eight-month wait for a constitutional court ruling on the Khutsong cross-border municipalities case was "suspicious", the SACP said yesterday.

SACP Gauteng chairman Nkosiphendule Kolisile expressed concern at the "delay in judgment" relating to a case in which Khutsong residents contested a government decision that their cross-border municipality fell under North West.

Residents preferred to be part of Gauteng, which was perceived to be the richer province with a better service delivery track record.

"It is now more than eight months since the constitutional court heard the matter, and reasons for the delay are unknown," Kolisile told reporters in Johannesburg.

"It really looks suspicious and indeed extraordinary.

"We are heading for June now and there has not been a word from the judges on a matter that has torn the community apart."

Khutsong, which used to be part of Gauteng, falls in the Merafong area, which straddles the border between Gauteng and North West. - Sapa