Mayoral tug of war continues
The question of who is going to replace former Knysna mayor Mark Willemse has brought tension between the DA and ANC in the town, after the DA last week wanted to place the election of a new mayor on the agenda for a special council meeting on Thursday 26 March but the item was rejected by the Speaker.
The DA terminated Willemse’s membership on 30 September last year, following months of uncertainty and in-fighting after Willemse voted “with his conscience” to dismiss former mayor Eleanore Bouw-Spies in a motion of no confidence in 2018.
Soon after Bouw-Spies was removed as mayor, DA members left the council chambers without voting for a new mayor and Willemse was elected unopposed as the new mayor.
He survived two votes of no confidence by his fellow caucus members until his membership was terminated forcing him to lose both his position as mayor and as Ward 9 councillor.
Willemse challenged his dismissal from the DA in the Western Cape High Court, but recently lost the case and has since instructed his legal team to appeal the court’s decision.
Last week, according to a statement issued on Wednesday 25 March by Knysna DA constituency head Dion George, acting municipal manager Dr Michele Gratz proposed the item of electing a new mayor to be included in the agenda for the special council meeting on Thursday. “The DA fully supports her in this regard and believes the mayoralty should be filled immediately.”
‘Reckless and foolhardy’
“Instead, the ANC refused to accept the agenda item, thus leaving Knysna without a mayor until after the lockdown: a reckless and foolhardy decision that the people of Knysna will remember come election 2021. “George also said, “the ANC again put its own narrow political agenda ahead of the needs of the people of Knysna”.
In the ANC’s written response to questions by Knysna-Plett Herald, their chief whip Claudine Croutz said the DA is “mad with power”.
Croutz said in a previous council meeting they resolved that Speaker Titi Gombo will call meetings that only deal with Covid-19 compliance issues and the hygiene protocol that needs to be followed. “We are facing a serious pandemic, a doctor in the Knysna district advised us in full council last week to desist calling council meetings and handle this pandemic with care. Council agreed on dealing with compliance issues.
“As the ANC we stand by last week’s unanimous council decision to deal with compliance issues,” said Croutz. “Is the election of a mayor a compliance issue? The DA says it is, but Section 55 (2) of the Structures Act states that the position must be filled when necessary. Is it necessary to elect a mayor today? Will that assist us during the lockdown?
‘Playing politics’
“The DA is playing politics in a time when people are panicking because the whole lockdown situation is new to us,” Croutz said, adding, “Our president and all leaders in this country see the seriousness of the Covid-19 but it looks like the DA is only seeing power. This is ridiculous.”
The chief whip called George’s statement that Knysna is left without a mayor “laughable”, because “they removed Willemse as the councillor and mayor”.
“This town has a deputy mayor who has been doing the responsibilities of the mayor for nearly six months and he brought stability to the council, something the DA seriously lacked,” said Croutz.
She asked: “Why was electing a mayor not necessary when they removed Willemse? Why now? And why today when communities are preparing for the 21 days of lockdown?”
When KPH asked for George’s response to this, he replied, “Everybody knows that Mr Willemse challenged his dismissal in court. That is why the vacancy in Ward 9 wasn’t filled through a by-election and the mayoralty wasn’t filled. Mr Willemse lost his court case and last week was the first opportunity to elect a mayor thereafter. The ANC said it wasn’t important.”
‘We bring you the latest Knysna | Garden Route news’
Source: Knysna Pletyt Herald News