Just months after taking office, Knysna’s new mayor, his deputy and the council’s speaker could face motions of no confidence at the next council meeting later in January.
The DA (eight seats) and the Knysna Independent Movement (KIM, with two seats) were voted into power with the EFF, which has a single seat, in 2021.
The ANC received seven seats, Patriotic Alliance (PA) two and the Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners (PBI) one.
PBI councillor Alberto Marbi submitted a motion of no confidence against mayor Levael Davis, which was seconded by PA councillor Beauty Charlie.
Another PA councillor, Waleed Grootboom, submitted a motion of no confidence against deputy mayor Mark Willemse, who is a KIM councillor.
Charlie submitted a motion of no confidence against the speaker, Julie Lopes.
All three motions were submitted on Tuesday to Lopes, who confirmed receiving them.
Marbi directed all questions to the party’s leader, Virgil Gericke.
He said: “The DA did not win Knysna outright and it governs Knysna with the help of smaller parties.
“Therefore we cannot allow Knysna to be subjected to a DA agenda alone.
“It is selfish of the DA to impose its agenda on the people of Knysna, while other parties have equal representation.
“This is not democracy.
“This is an abuse of the system to claim the majority, with the help of smaller parties.”
Gericke said the leadership in Knysna was not creating enough employment opportunities.
PA member Ralph Stander said the DA’s constituency did not represent the poor communities.
“The people who will be in council after that meeting will be people who will represent the poor,” he said.
ANC chief whip Mncedisi Skosana said the party would support the motion.
“Strategically, whatever goes against the DA we will support,” Skosana said.
“In terms of positions, we are not in those discussions yet.”
Davis said he had been expecting the motions.
“It’s politics and I have been waiting for this since I was elected,” he said.
Davis said his first strategic decision was to fill vacant director posts as well as looking for a municipal manager.
“On a local level, I have been hands-on [in areas such as Hornlee] with putting in lights,” he said.
“In this short amount of time, I think it’s frivolous [and] I have never been intoxicated by my mayoral chain.
“I am here to serve.”
EFF councillor Neil Louw said he was awaiting a decision from his national bosses.
Willemse said: “It’s utterly ridiculous bringing a motion of confidence [now].
“We have not even been in power for 100 days to achieve anything.
“It’s purely political and not driven by service delivery concerns and it is a desperate grab at power.”
The next council meeting will take place either on January 27 or January 31.
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