Lopes departs DA, joins ActionSA

Update

KNYSNA NEWS - Former speaker of Knysna Municipality and recently resigned councillor Julie Lopes has resigned from the DA, opting to join Herman Mashaba's ActionSA party.

Lopes resigned from the Knysna Council yesterday, Friday 2 June, but was still believed to be continuing as a member of the DA.

DA Knysna Constituency Head Dion George at the time of confirming Lopes' resignation yesterday, was under the impression that she would continue as a DA member.

However, Lopes has since said she had no intention to remain with the DA. "I made no undertaking to stay with the DA," Lopes said.

When asked for comment earlier today, George said "Julie did contact me, and she did indicate that she would be remaining a DA member, which was obviously untrue."

No more than a day after her resignation from council and subsequently the DA, Lopes was announced as a new member of the ActionSA party during an ActionSA ward by-election event in Johannesburg. "I have joined ActionSA as I feel they offer hope and a future for South Africans," Lopes said of her decision to join the party.

ActionSA's Western Cape Chairperson Michelle Wasserman, herself a former Knysna Municipality councillor and former DA member, expressed her delight with Lopes joining their ranks.

"We are delighted that Advocate Seton has joined ActionSA. She will be assisting us with driving strategic litigation in the Western Cape," Wasserman said. "We intend to focus on legal action that will ensure good governance and accountability, ensure that communities in the Western Cape have access to basic services, and also to protect our natural environment."
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Former speaker and councillor, Julie Lopes.