March 31, 2008, 21:30
Deputy Mayor of the George Municipality in the Southern Cape, Flip de Swart, has been elected the new mayor at a council meeting.
De Swart replaces Basil Petrus, who was dismissed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) a few weeks ago for disobeying party orders.
The DA has also suspended Mayoral Committee Member, Mercia Draghoender, for allegedly bringing the party into disrepute. Three other DA councillors, Ellen Meyer, Maria Ruiters and Henry Jones recently resigned.
The DA has 18 seats and is ruling with the Independent Democrats (ID) which has two seats, the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) and Freedom Front Plus (FFPlus) with one seat each. The ANC has 17 seats in the council.
ANC unhappy with election of new mayor
Meanwhile, the ANC in the municipality says it will seek legal recourse following the election of new mayor. The ANC walked out of the meeting saying it was not properly constituted.
This after council speaker Eugene Von Brandis allowed a DA councilor who tended a resignation letter last week to sit in the council. Henry Jones resigned from the DA, but verbally withdrew his resignation a week later. ANC regional Secretary, Sipho Kroma, says they will take the matter to court
The new mayor says he plans to speed up service delivery. De Swardt says the town has been plagued by political instability and uncertainty.
|
