The coveted mayoral chain became tainted in several Western Cape municipalities. Fickle coalitions and scandals also ensured that some mayors were fired no sooner than they had been sworn in.
Mayors elected during the local government elections in November 2021 end this year in different positions due to instability and political chess in councils.
The year kicked off with drama at the troubled Kannaland Municipality, where convicted child rapist, Jeffrey Donson, was ousted as mayor after a motion of no confidence. The motion was tabled after Donson and his deputy, Werner Meshoa, refused to step down after it emerged they had criminal convictions.
Donson was convicted of raping a 15-year-old girl in 2008, and he went to the Western Cape High Court to appeal the matter and was given a suspended sentence.
The ANC’s Nicolaas Valentyn and Leoni Stuurman were voted in as their replacements, only to be disciplined by their party and reinstated following protracted legal challenges. However, the Western Cape High Court granted them leave to appeal their suspension from the ANC.
But five months later, the duo was stripped of their titles again after the municipality passed a vote of no confidence which paved the way for the return of the Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa’s (Icosa) Donson.
Meshoa, also from Icosa, is back in deputy mayor's seat following a special council meeting in October.
The political ground was just as shaky in the cash-strapped Oudtshoorn Municipality after its mayor Chad Louw was voted out after just seven months on the job.
Saamstaan councillor Mlandeli Nyuka voted with the DA, FF+ and Icosa to elect the DA’s highly controversial Chris Macpherson as mayor in a betrayal of the ANC-led coalition. Nyuka was then named deputy, only to be arrested on charges of sexual assault a few months later. This led to his resignation last month.
Oudtshoorn’s neighbouring municipality, Beaufort West, also saw different mayoral hands this year. Thershia Prince, the wife of the town’s controversial former mayor, Truman, was elected to the same position.
She replaced her fellow Patriotic Alliance member Gideon Pietersen, who went on to occupy her vacant position as deputy mayor of the Central Karoo District Municipality.
The party, which positioned itself as kingmakers in the Karoo region, also saw its party leader Gayton McKenzie elected mayor of the Central Karoo District.
McKenzie made headlines several times for his bold economic plans for the regions, his comments about having no qualms about switching off a foreign national’s oxygen supply to save a South African and for being reported to the Public Protector’s office on allegation of financial mismanagement.
At the foot of Cederberg, the drama continued to be the order of the day when an eight-month-old coalition government between the DA and two smaller parties in the beleaguered municipality collapsed after a no-confidence vote passed by a small margin.
During a heated council sitting in July, the motion of no confidence created a political stalemate, seeing Cederberg speaker Joseph Farmer turning his back on the DA. His vote saw the ANC and Patriotic Alliance councillors elected to the speaker and deputy mayor.
The embattled municipality became one of the first hung councils following the 2021 local government elections, which essentially opened the door for a coalition agreement between the DA, Freedom Front Plus and the Cederberg First Residents Association.
The DA’s reign in Knysna ended in August after councillors passed a vote of no confidence against mayor Levael Davis and his deputy, Mark Willemse.
The ANC’s Aubrey Tsengwa took the coveted mayoral chain from Davis, a DA member whose party was in coalition with Willemse’s Knysna Independent Movement.
Political analyst Professor Zweli Ndevhu said the past year had no shortage of drama caused by unstable coalitions.
“It's been a roller-coaster year for Western Cape politics, instability, and a lack of accountability. In 2023, politicians will (grasp) that no-confidence motions don't work. Hopefully, they will start to understand that you need to build coalition governments based on principles.”
Weekend Argus.