Myers hits back over removal bid

KNYSNA Municipality’s deputy mayor, Peter Myers, who faces being removed from his position today, said the motion of no confidence in him by two fellow DA councillors was because he did not vote with the party’s caucus on items he believed were illegal.

The motion against Myers was brought by the party’s chief whip in Knysna, Levael Davis, and seconded by DA councillor Cathy Weideman. The motion will be debated during a special council meeting today. DA eastern region leader Jaco Londt said Myers had alienated his party colleagues, “virtually without exception” during his tenure.

“He has made wild and unsubstantiated allegations against the mayor, colleagues and officials, which has destroyed their working relationships. For some considerable time, Mr Myers’s colleagues petitioned the leadership of the party to address the breakdown in trust, or to remove him as deputy mayor, citing his crass and bombastic manner, and his inability to operate as part of the team.”

Londt added that interventions by the party’s leadership to persuade Myers to change the way he interacted with colleagues and the public, and to temper his language, were unsuccessful. He said in supporting a motion of no confidence, the DA was not suggesting that he had done anything wrong.

“What we are saying is that he is a bad fit in the position of deputy mayor and that his colleagues cannot work with him while he holds that office.”

Approached for comment, Myers told the Cape Times he was “extremely concerned” that the party would not let the process take its course.

“The reason there has been a breakdown is because I have been very concerned with certain actions within the council over the last two months, two in particular on August 11, where I had to excuse myself from a council meeting because I believed two items before the council were illegal,” he said.

“They are investigating the situation. It seems they are taking very premature action and I do not know on what basis.”