Knysna horse trading begins after inconclusive poll result

POLITICAL parties in Knysna are in coalition talks after local government election results yesterday revealed the municipality had become a hung council.

While the DA managed to garner 49.61 percent of the vote, it was not enough to secure it the outright majority it had obtained in 2011. The party was allocated 10 seats.

The ANC received 32.14 percent and was allocated seven seats.

Cope, the Knysna Unity Congress, the ACDP and an independent candidate obtained one seat each.

DA manager for the Southern Cape Jaco Londt said coalition agreements were under way with parties that received a seat each.

“We are hoping that they would take into account the progress we (the DA) had made while governing Knysna over the past five years,” Londt said.

In the meantime, the party’s mayoral candidate Eleanore Bouw-Spies was cautiously optimistic about the future. Should talks go her way, it would not be the first time Bouw-Spies has donned the mayoral chain. She was the ANC mayor for Knysna from 2007, following a floor-crossing window, until 2011 when the DA won an outright majority during the previous local government elections. She then joined the DA when she announced she would be running for the Ward 5 seat, which includes Rheenendal and Brenton-on-Sea, after the party’s councillor for the area Magda Williams died in 2014.

She said once talks had been concluded, she would hit the ground running. She said the party had set a good track record in terms of governance since 2011 and wanted to continue the momentum during the next term. The plan included the four pillars of job creation, stamping out corruption, bettering services and providing better governance.

“One of the first priorities is going to improve our communication with residents as this would form a good foundation to build on.”

She would also take a “hands on” approach to leading the municipality. “As a ward councillor I’ve come to know the importance of really being involved with my community. I also want good co-operation between councillors and myself. It is so important to be plugged into your community as mayor and a way to do this is through a good relationship between the mayor and the various councillors.”

ANC Southern Cape secretary Major Sokopo said the party would start coalition talks. – ANA