DA terminates mayor’s membership

Served with letter of cessation from the party after indicating his intention to resign – amid 11 looming charges

EMBATTLED Oudtshoorn mayor Colan Sylvester was given the boot by the DA yesterday, hours after he alerted them to his intention to resign.

The party served him with a letter of cessation and gave him 24 hours to provide a reason why his membership should be reinstated.

Sylvester’s indication to resign follows 11 charges being made against him, including divisive conduct, excluding DA council members from private caucus meetings and obstructing the municipal manager to exercise certain financial constraints.

Yesterday, he said he was not going to reinstate his membership and it was “better for him to leave the party”.

He said he decided leave on the basis that he had to make a choice between “keeping quiet” and forsaking his responsibility to zero tolerance of corruption.

“I joined the DA because I believed in its values of freedom, fairness, zero tolerance of corruption, the rule of law, equality and accountability to the community it serves,” said Sylvester.

“It was from this perspective that I applied as a candidate to be a public representative and for the position as executive mayor of Oudtshoorn.

“My desire, when I applied, was to serve the residents of Oudtshoorn and get the town working again,” he said.

DA constituency head for Oudtshoorn,

“The mayor’s indication to resign follows several charges laid against him Eleanore Bouw-Spies DA constituency head: Oudtshoorn

Eleanore Bouw-Spies, said Sylvester resigned amid a disciplinary hearing.

“The matter of Mr Sylvester has been looming for over a year. There were several charges against him and it is clear that Mr Sylvester’s resignation follows his conviction, and he took off before the party could act on his misconduct,” she said.

Bouw-Spies said that in terms of the provisions in the party’s constitution, a person ceases to be a member of the party when he or she publicly declares an intention to resign and/ or publicly declares resignation from the party.

“The mayor’s indication to resign follows several charges being laid against him,” said Bouw-Spies.

“The 11 charges include divisive conduct, excluding DA council members from private caucus meetings and obstructing the municipal manager to exercise certain financial constraints.”

Acting municipal manager Reginald Smit said the municipality had not yet received a resignation letter from either Sylvester or the DA.

“We therefore cannot confirm the information of the resignation of the mayor.

“Should there be further developments, we will communicate accordingly,” he said.