Cape Town - The DA has taken up office at the Oudtshoorn municipality without any glitches or interference from opposition parties after taking over control of the local government authority on Friday.
Newly-elected Oudtshoorn mayor Wessie van der Westhuizen of the DA confirmed the smooth transition on Monday, saying the former mayor and his deputy had cleared out their offices and that the new team was already settling in.
Van der Westhuizen and his deputy, John Stoffels from the National People’s Party (NPP), were elected unopposed after the ANC and their alliance partners, the Independent Civics Organisation (Icosa) walked out of last week’s council meeting in protest against the vote of no confidence in the former mayor ,Gordon April and his deputy Vlancio Donson.
Van der Westhuizen reiterating his party’s commitment to restoring the municipality to its former glory, saying they were serious about rendering the best services for the people of the greater Oudtshoorn.
DA Western Cape leader Patricia de Lille said the party would now focus on stabilising its finances and service delivery in the municipality.
She said Friday’s council meeting had approved the town’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and the budget for the 2015/2016 financial year, with some amendments, which included:
* That overall expenses are reduced by R2.95 million.
* That residential property tax be reduced by 25 to 7 percent.
* That provisions for social assistance be centralised in the office of the mayor to avoid social assistance being abused by officials.
* That the budget be internally workshopped and policies needed to enforce it be drafted for approval by the council as soon as possible.
De Lille said the people of Oudtshoorn had suffered for too long under the financial mismanagement of the ANC.
“Millions of rand of taxpayers’ money was wasted by the ANC government in Oudtshoorn Council. Service delivery in the town deteriorated and, in some cases, completely stopped. We believe that these amendments as well as other interventions will improve, and eventually restore service delivery in Oudtshoorn,” De Lille added.
De Lille added that an urgent probe by the Western Cape Government was also needed to determine if the municipality was bankrupt.
If so, all DA councillors and their alliance partner, Cope, indicated that they would request a cut in their own salaries to help the municipality.
“The time for political opportunism in Oudtshoorn is over; The DA will now focus on restoring the town’s finances and on providing the people of Oudtshoorn with the services that they deserve,” De Lille added.
The municipality had not responded to requests for comment at the time of going to print.
Cape Argus