Lopes bids farewell to council, DA

Update

KNYSNA NEWS - Former speaker in the Knysna Council, Julie Lopes, last week said goodbye to the Knysna municipal council and the Democratic Alliance. She has since opted to join Herman Mashaba's ActionSA party.

Lopes resigned from council last Friday, 2 June, and while at the time of her council resignation it was still believed she would continue as a member of the DA, Lopes indicated she never wanted to stay a DA member. "I made no undertaking to stay with the DA," Lopes told KPH.

'Blatant and continued disrespect'

In her letter of resignation from council, Lopes laid out her reasons for making the decision, highlighting the council meeting held last Wednesday 31 May as a large portion of the reason why she resigned.

"Subsequent to the council meeting held on 31 May and the blatant and continued disrespect which not only the ruling coalition displays to the opposition councillors but also to the public at large, as well as the intentional flouting of the rule of law, I have no option other than to tender my resignation from council with immediate effect," the letter read. "It is embarrassing to be associated with the current council."

Lopes added further that she felt councillors are not doing their due diligence for the town.

"The majority of council and many senior officials have so little respect for the rule of law that they have deliberately flouted the Systems Act and pushed through appointments of senior managers (Acting Director Corporate, Acting CFO and the MM), knowing it is unlawful and these officials have unblushingly accepted the positions, knowing full well they are not qualified and are unashamedly taking the top salary scale. The budget is not credible and the IDP passed last night [31 May] despite being incomplete does not speak adequately to the budget."

New party time

It was no more than a day after her resignation from council and the DA, that 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."

Lopes' history and council future

She was elected to council following the 2021 Local Government Elections (LGE) as one of the Democratic Alliance's three proportional representative (PR) councillor seats. Lopes was subsequently made speaker in council before she was ousted from her position and replaced by the ANC's Mncedisi Skosana in September 2022 when the ANC-led coalition consisting of the ANC, PA, PBI and EFF took power in council.

Lopes continued to serve as a PR councillor though, until her resignation last week. DA Knysna Constituency Head Dion George confirmed that she will be replaced by whoever who was next on the list of their candidates for the 2021 LGE.

By virtue of this list, her replacement is set to be Luzuko Tyokolo, who was the DA's fifth candidate behind current Ward 1 Councillor Levael Davis, now former PR councillor Lopes, and then current PR councillors Elmarie Maxim and Jason White.

Julie Lopes (far left) alongside ActionSA President Herman Mashaba and ActionSA Western Cape Chairperson Michelle Wasserman. All three are former members of the DA. Photo: ActionSA/Twitter