KNYSNA NEWS - ACDP provincial chair Ferlon Christians is standing firmly behind his party's decision to help the DA to power in Knysna, stating that they are not in coalition with the DA but voting with the DA in the best interests of residents. This follows in the wake of a disagreement between the two parties after the Ward 9 and 10 by-elections, when the ACDP declined to form a coalition with the DA.

The two parties had initially had a pre-election deal that, if the DA won both wards, they would collaborate to form a majority in the Knysna Council, but the ACDP walked away from the deal when the DA did not include an ACDP councillor on the mayoral committee in the Tshwane Metro Council.

The DA holds 10 out of 21 seats in the Knysna Council and needs an extra vote to take over the municipality from the ANC, Cope and KUC-led coalition.

However, this week the DA announced that the DA and the ACDP in Knysna will work together to secure the key posts of mayor, deputy mayor and speaker for the DA in the Knysna Municipal Council while an ACDP councillor will be MPAC chair. The move was supported by DA Western Cape leader Bonginkosi Madikizela during a visit to the Garden Route on Monday.

Opposition

Christians told Knysna-Plett Herald (KPH) on Tuesday that the ACDP will remain the opposition in Knysna. "Our councillor, Patrick Makhetha, will not be part of the executive. He will be the municipal public accounts committee (MPAC) chair and make the DA accountable. We will not work in a coalition with the DA, we will always vote for what is in the best interests of the people of Knysna," he said.

Christians said the decision to assist the DA in its interests came after he spent three days in Knysna last weekend speaking with the community, community leaders and businesses. "We had back to back meetings with the people of Knysna, who asked us to work with the DA. We are not helping the DA for positions, we are helping them to serve the interests of the people," he said.

He said the DA offered them a position in the executive but they declined it. "Our role is to keep the executive accountable," he said.

When asked about the change from their former stance about collaboration, Christians said the decision is based on what the people on the ground wanted. "I took time out of my work as a member of the legislature to go with our councilor to listen to the people of the town. We made sure that we took the right decision," he said.

According to DA Knysna Constituency Leader Dion George, the DA ''is not getting into coalition with ACDP as they said they wanted to remain an opposition and we will work on issues as they come. We want to make sure that we get the support and make Knysna a better town to live in."

He told KPH that they plan to change the situation in Knysna and will be submitting a motion of no confidence in the mayor, deputy mayor and speaker in January, now that they have the numbers.

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