PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Bitou Council is set for a political change that will see the current DA-led coalition removed from office and replaced by an ANC-led coalition that appears to have snatched a majority in the council. 

This will see motions of no confidence tabled in council next week, against the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Whip.

The power shift comes after the Speaker in the DA-led coalition, Claude Terblanche, of the Plett Democratic Congress (PDC), switched his support to the new ANC-led alliance. 

This will tilt the balance of power by seven to six -  if the motions are carried at a special council meeting called for 2 February at the council chambers in Plettenberg Bay.

ANC leader in the council, Sandiso Gcabayi, requested at 08:00 yesterday, Thursday 25 January, shortly before the start of the scheduled monthly council meeting, that Municipal Manager Mbulelo Memani convene an urgent special council meeting to be held next Friday 2 February to hear motions of no confidence. 

The motions have called for the removal of Mayor Dave Swart, Deputy Mayor Mavis Busakwe and Whip Annelise Olivier, from their positions on the council. 

Terblanche signed the requests for the motions of no confidence to remove his erstwhile coalition members, signalling his support for the new ANC-led alliance.

The new alliance is made up of four ANC members, Terblanche’s Plett Democratic Congress (PDC), Heinrigt Mitchell of the the Patriotic Alliance (PA), and Nokuzola Kolwapi, of the Ikhwezi Political Movement (IPM). 

It leaves the DA-led coaliton with five DA councillors and one from the Active United Front (AUF).

The motions said “most of the councillors which constitutes a majority of councillors of the Bitou municpal council has lost their confidence” in the mayor, deputy mayor and Whip.

“The DA councillors and the AUF councillor are concerned that all the work of the past two years will be undone and that Bitou will be the loser in this change,” Swart said in a Facebook social media statement.

Gcabayi “lauded” the motions. He said the lead-up to the announcement was kept under the radar to protect councillors from intimidation. 

“We don’t want people to be harrassed,” accusing the DA of bullying them in council.

Terblanche did not want to comment, although he confirmed signing the documents calling for the motions of no confidence.

Leader of the PA Gayton Mckenzie also stepped into the fray, saying in a Facebook post: “I am actually on my way to Plettenberg Bay to help remove the DA government.” 

Earlier in the day Mckenzie, in another Facebook post, said that “the mayor in Plettenberg Bay has no respect for our people (people) there”.

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