Cape Town - The DA has been dealt yet another mayor blow. The Karoo Democratic Front (KDF) and the ANC in Beaufort West have voted in favour of a motion of no confidence to remove DA Mayor Japie van der Linde, his deputy, Delene Slabbert, and Speaker Euna Wentzel from office.
Van der Linde, Slabbert and Wentzel had been back in their positions for less than two weeks after the Western Cape High Court ruled that their removal in February was procedurally flawed.
Following the motion of no confidence, the KDF’s Noë* Constable is the new mayor, while the ANC’s Truman Price has been elevated to the position of deputy mayor. Michael Motsoane is the new Speaker.
This came a day after the DA failed in its bid to remove Knysna Mayor Mark Willemse through a second motion of no confidence on Monday.
Eleven councillors, including two DA councillors, a Knysna Unity Congress (KUC) and a Cope councillor, voted against the motion while 10 voted in favour.
The party was also left scrambling after the Western High Court thwarted its efforts to remove Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille last week. The court found that the termination of De Lille’s membership was unlawful.
The court had delivered a scathing judgment against the DA, ordering the organisation to reappoint its Federal Legal Commission (FLC).
DA provincial leader Bonginkosi Madikizela said yesterday’s events was “against progress and in favour of chaos and corruption by returning the ANC to power”.
“The DA promised the residents of the Beaufort West municipality that it would have zero tolerance for corruption and will continue to fight for accountable governance and service delivery from the opposition benches,” he said.
ANC provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs said Madikizela must resign.
“The tide is turning. People are gatvol of DA’s jobs for pals, high tariffs and lack of service delivery. Their DA internal fights are affecting ordinary people. DA failed to create safer, secure communities.
“DA failed to deal with housing, water, toilets, jobs and overcrowding. DA failed to unite and bring people closer.”
Meanwhile, Willemse and fellow councillor Peter Myers said they were left perplexed as the DA forges ahead with disciplinaries against them through a provincial disciplinary committee set for this weekend.
Willemse had been pressured by the party to step down, accusing him and Myers of colluding with the opposition, after voting in favour of a motion of no confidence against former mayor Eleanore Bouw-Spies.
“We will be opposing this (disciplinary hearing) as there needs to be clarity on not just the exact nature of charges, but whether the party should not halt (it), as this pertains to the Western Cape High Court ruling on the Federal Legal Council,” he said.
DA national spokesperson Solly Malatsi said each province had a provincial disciplinary committee, and Willemse and Myers’s disciplinary hearing was not being dealt with by the FLC.
DA provincial communications manager Odette Cason said the disciplinary process was under way and the party would comment after the outcome.
Party leader Mmusi Maimane, for the first time since the court ruling in the De Lille case, said: “There are many serious challenges, some serious allegations that are facing the mayor of Cape Town.
“We have always sought to affect accountability as a political party. The party is dealing with its own processes.”
He had conducted a visit to the Nyanga police station as part of an oversight initiative.
Asked why his party took so long to resolve the De Lille matter, he said: “When you go through a court process, it does in fact take its own time and therefore we are at its mercy.”
De Lille has repeatedly asked for a disciplinary hearing open to the public and media, to clear her name, which she said had been smeared by the party.