Knysna mayor facing motion of no confidence

‘This is not about the parties, but what is in the best interests of the residents’

KNYSNA council Speaker Georlene Wolmarans will be under intense scrutiny today as she handles a motion of no confidence against Mayor Eleanore Bouw-Spies, says DA councillor Peter Myers.

The ANC, with the support of a local party, the Knysna Unity Congress (KUC), had given notice of their intention to table a motion of no confidence in the mayor.

This motion was tabled at a previous council meeting, which was not accepted by Spies and ended in a controversy highlighted by a failure by council to approve the 2018/19 budget, which needed to be done by May 31.

Myers, the ousted deputy mayor, had no doubt that the motion would be put to a vote and it will be up to each council member to vote in accordance with his/her conscience.

“As in the case of Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille, the courts made it quite clear that in order for this to happen, a secret ballot must be held.

“However, the courts also judged that this power lies within the hands of the speaker and she will be under intense scrutiny to make that decision or for an open vote.

“This will be very difficult as she will have to make a rational decision or justify an arbitrary decision,” he said.

Myers said as in the De Lille case, the DA legislation has made it clear that members openly voting against party structures would lose their party membership.

The Knysna council is made up of 21 members, said Myers – 10 DA, seven ANC, one each for Cope, the African Christian Democratic Party, KUC and an independent.

The ANC believes that Bouw-Spies had not performed her duties as provided for in legislation, calling for a the motion to be conducted by secret ballot.

ANC chief whip Mertle Gombo said: “We can no longer tolerate the wrongdoings at council and we are calling on all members of council to vote in accordance with their conscience.

“This is not about the parties, but what is in the best interests of the residents of Knysna and we hope councillors will keep that in mind when voting,” she said.

Gombo said the ANC would comment on the matter following the vote today.

Wolmarans said: “The council meeting and the motion will be dealt with in accordance with the rule of order for internal arrangement by-law.

“This will be the last item on the agenda as the budget would still need to be debated by council, along with other items of the agenda,” she said.