PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS FLASH - Bitou’s post-election woes have escalated this week when the Electoral Court ruled on September 6, 2016 that ballots cast at a voting station in Plettenberg Bay’s Ward 5 be recounted following claims by the DA of major discrepancies with the calculation and recording of the votes.

The coastal holiday town became as far known the first municipality in the Western Cape where votes have to be recounted.

While the DA welcomed the court’s decision the ANC has labelled the party’s attempt to have the ballots recounted as “fishing for votes”.

The saga started the day after the August 3, 2016 local government elections when results revealed that while the DA received the majority of votes, the party lost out on an outright majority by a mere 21 votes. The DA received 48.58% of the votes which only gave the party six seats in a 13-seat council.

The ANC received 40.99% of the support, also giving it six seats, while the Active United Front (AUF) managed 5.36% of the votes for the final seat – leaving the municipality with a hung council.

During the previous local government elections the DA was in a similar position, but managed to cling to power thanks to a coalition agreement with COPE.