Patriotic Alliance leads removal of Democratic Alliance, Freedom Front government in Cederberg, with support of DA's councillors after severe disrespect from DA

13 July 2022

The leadership of the Patriotic Alliance (PA) welcomes the downfall of the DA-Freedom Front coalition government in the Cederberg Local Municipality, Western Cape, after a successful motion of no confidence was passed in the mayor, deputy mayor and speaker of council on Wednesday, 13 July. The municipality was the first of many hung councils after the 2021 elections to agree to form a coalition government, which was signed between the DA, Freedom Front Plus and the Cederberg First Residents Association. The municipality had previously been governed by the ANC.

Ruben Richards of the Cederberg First Residents Association became the mayor while the Freedom Front Plus took the deputy mayor position. Joseph Farmer of the DA became the speaker of council. During the motion of no confidence on Wednesday, a deadlock of votes was reached in council, with Farmer then left to cast the deciding vote. He then voted against his own party, the DA, with the support of another DA councillor.

The council then elected Farmer as the new mayor.

The Patriotic Alliance's councillor Wentzel van Neel is the new deputy mayor, while the ANC's Maxwell Heins was elected as the new speaker.

The motion of no confidence had been sparked by the actions of the DA and Freedom Front Plus in the Western Cape municipality of Matzikama after the DA recruited the PA's councillor, Christo Boks, and then gloried in winning the ward again with Boks as their shared candidate under the banner of the DA.

The PA had previously resisted changing the Cederberg government in order to retain cordial relations with the DA and Freedom Front Plus, and after a personal plea from DA federal chairperson Helen Zille to not disrupt the government in Cederberg. However, Zille then went on to describe the PA's loss in Matzikama as evidence that "the tide is turning".

PA secretary-general Chinelle Stevens, posting a photo of herself on the PA's Facebook page with Farmer and Van Neel, said that a "touch is a move", in response to the disrespect from the DA. She said that the DA's Western Cape leader Tertuis Simmers had started a war with the PA.

"He insulted our leaders and personally went to recruit a PA ward councillor, Kito Boks the very same Kito Boks who begged me and the president of the PA to withdraw from the DA-led coalition.

"They paraded and insulted the PA in newspapers and social media. Tertuis messed up all the goodwill that was constructed by our president and DA leader John Steenhuisen.

"Today we are answering that disrespect. Unlike the DA, we don't only go for councillors but for the whole municipality."

She then congratulated the new council leaders.

Issued by Patriotic Alliance, 13 July 2022