The Democratic Alliance (DA’s) Dirk Kotzé has been elected as the new mayor of Mossel Bay in the Southern Cape. This follows last week’s local government elections where the DA won an overall majority of 66 percent in the council.

The DA’s Venolea Fortuin was elected speaker while a new deputy mayor is expected to be announced at the first council meeting next week. The party secured 19 seats in the 29 seat council followed by the ANC with five. Kotzé says he is ready for the challenges ahead.

“The challenges are real, but we’ve got a very competent team around us, I’ve got a competent council around me. In our DA caucus, we’ve brought in many new councillors with specialities. So I’m looking forward to working with them. The stakes are high, the bar is set high, and so we do understand we’ll have to work very hard.  I’ll lie if I say I’m not nervous. I know about the challenges since I’ve been acting for a while, but we’ll work hard and I’m very positive,” says Kotzé.