DA welcomes 5 ANC defectors in Oudtshoorn

Today a DA driven motion of no confidence in the Speaker, Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Oudtshoorn Municipality was accepted with 17 votes against 0. Five of the eleven ANC-councillors as well as Cope voted with the DA and the DA's councillors Chris MacPherson, Ben van Wyk and Felicity Magxaka were appointed as Speaker, Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Oudtshoorn. Several ANC municipal officials were also suspended pending disciplinary hearings.

After the Council meeting, the five ANC-councillors who supported the DA resigned and joined the DA. They are Councillor Pieter Luiters (Chairperson Community Services and Whip of the ANC, proportional), Councillor Hendrik Botha (Chairperson Finance, proportional), Alderman Jurie Harmse (Chairperson Strategic Services, Ward 13), Councillor Hendrik Ruiters (Chairperson Technical Services, Ward 5) and Councillor Jeremy Goliath (Ward 6).

These councillors recently approached the DA and informed us of their intent. They cited bad service delivery, mismanagement and maladministration by the ANC-led Oudtshoorn municipality as the main reasons for their resignation. They also expressed their frustration in the on-going in-fighting within the regional structures of the ANC.

The DA believes the ANC resignations today are the first of many that will follow in the run-up to the election next year. Marius Fransman, the leader of the ANC in the Western Cape, has for some time now been unable to establish unity and efficiency within local ANC structures. Poor leadership, divisions in the ANC and subsequent poor management in the ANC-led municipalities is becoming untenable and the proverbial dam is starting to burst.

This is in stark contrast with the DA-led municipalities in the province where good governance, transparency, excellent service delivery and an open opportunity society is the order of the day.

It is time that the ANC in the Western Cape wake up and realise that political power is not a given. The management of a municipality is entrusted to you by the voters who rightfully expect that all actions and decisions will be in the best interest of the community. There is no tolerance in the DA-led Western Cape for poor municipal management. Today's events are a step in the right direction for the Municipality of Oudtshoorn and serve as an example of what will follow in other ANC-led municipalities in this province

The DA blue wave is swelling and roaring in the Western Cape and getting rid of inefficient and corrupt ANC-structures in its path to the Union Buildings.

Statement issued by Theuns Botha, Deputy Leader of the DA in the Western Cape, May 31 2013

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