WHAT HAPPENDED TODAY..
Today, at Special Council meeting a motion of No-confidence was tabled against Executive Mayor, Francois du Rand, see end of post for items contained in the motion.
Executive Mayor was ousted, with 6 votes in favour of the motion, and 5 votes against. With the Executive Mayor removed from office, the Executive Committee of Council was disbanded.
A new Executive Mayor will be appointed, and by request of the ANC whip it was agreed to postpone voting and appointment of the Executive Mayor to Monday, 3 February 2025 (09:00).
With MayCo disbanded, all councillors (11 in total) are collectively responsible for matters of Council until such time that a Mayor is appointed.
The scheduled Council meeting for 30 January 2025 will continue as scheduled. Urgent items will be forwarded to the full Council for action. No urgent actions however is on the agenda for discussion.
The position of Speaker (VF+ Councillor) will remain intact. Swellendam does not currently have a Deputy Mayor.
IS SWELLENDAM NOT GOVERNED BY THE DA?
To understand the political situation as it stand today, we need to be reminded what happened in the last local elections and led us to this day:
Swellendam local Municipality consists of 6 wards (contested in the local elections).
The current local municipality Council consists of 11 members, elected by mixed-member proportional representation. This means:
- 6x Cllrs are elected (one for each ward);
- The remaining 5x Cllrs are chosen from the party lists (so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received in the elections).
- The ward Cllrs are:
(1) Ward 1 (Swellendam Town & Stormsvlei) – Elna Lambrecht (DA)
(2) Ward 2 (Barrydale) – Isaac Ferguson (ANC)
(3) Ward 3 (Suurbraak, Buffeljagsrivier & Malgas) – Donovan Julius (ANC)
(4) Ward 4 (Railton) – Francois du Rand (DA)
(5) Ward 5 (Railton) – Gladys Libazi (ANC)
(6) Ward 6 (Railton) – Julian Matthysen (ANC)
- Proportional Cllrs (as per party lists) are:
(7) Juan van Schalkwyk (VF+)
(8) Frans Kees (DA)
(9) Agnes Bokwana (DA)
(10) Amanda Swart (ANC)
(11) David Julius (DA)
Currently office bearers are:
- Executive Mayor (currently vacant))
- Deputy Mayor (vacant since 2023)
- Speaker (Jean v Schalkwyk)
Last Local elections performance (November 2021) – Seats were allocated as follows:
The DA won the elections with a total number of 6 seats (3x ward seats and 3 Party List seats).
The ANC came second with 4 seats (3x ward seats and 1 party List seat).
The VF+ came third with 1 seat (0 ward seats and 1 party list seat).
The DA won the local municipality with outright with 6 seats (ANC 4 and VF+ 1)
In the 2022/23 financial year 3x DA Cllrs were removed by the DA Party leadership – one of which was the Deputy Mayor (2 party list Cllrs were removed and 1x ward Cllr – Barrydale).
To fill a vacant seat in Ward 2 (Barrydale), a by-election was held on 22 March 2023 and was won by the ANC.
After 2023 By-election the local Council consisted (also currently in place) of 5x DA seats, 5x ANC seats and 1x VF+ seat. With a 50/50 split this means that no party outright governs without the help of a coalition partner.
A Coalition government, under the Mayoral leadership of Francois du Rand, was formed between the DA and VF+, and the VF+ Cllr voted in as Speaker of Council. The Coalition Government had majority in Council.
The Coalition relationship however seemed to have soured with the Speaker voting with the ANC to oust Executive Mayor Francois du Rand on 27 January 2025..
DO THE VOTERS NOT HAVE A RIGHT TO CHOOSE THE MAYOR OF THE COUNCIL?
No. The voters vote in seats and representation at local elections.
Cllrs (seats as per election results) vote in office bearers: Executive Mayor, deputy Mayor and Speaker. Together Cllrs and Office Bearers make up the Executive Management Committee of Council (MayCo).
Even if Cllr du Rand was removed from the Mayoral position, he remains the elected Cllr for Ward 4.
27 January 2025, THE AFTERMATH
A new Executive Mayor will be voted in on 3 February 2025.
It will be interesting to see what will happen with the Coalition Government agreement between the DA and VF+ as trust has been broken.
The Bulletin will watch media reports and statements closely in the days to come.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The following items formed the basis of the Motion of No-Confidence in the Executive Mayor (more detailed information will be published in this week’s edition of the Langeberg Bulletin, as well as the Mayor’s remarks and reply to the motion):
1) Failure to implement Council decisions
2) Disclosure of confidential information
3) Failure to provide proper documentation to MM
4) Failure to address environmental and sewerage concerns
5) Neglecting to act on misconduct allegations
6) Leaving a council meeting without permission
7) Issuing illegal instructions
8) Obstructing Council decisions
9) Unbecoming behaviour
10) Unlawful labour practices
11) Failure to address infrastructure project issues
12) Delay in appointing a director of infrastructure
13) Concerns over illegal activities
14) Inadequate responses to community concerns
15) Insufficient legislative knowledge
16) Lack of transparancy
17) Ineffective leadership
18) Breach of confidentiality regarding the Vermaak Report
19) Unauthorised amendments to the Vermaak Report
20) Allegations of bribery
#Swellendam #swellendamcouncil #SwellendamMayor
Other Articles
ANC Statement
Statement van Tertius Simmers
No Comment! Be the first one.