Dissatisfaction with the conduct of the former DA Mayor of Oudtshoorn, Mr Chris Macpherson, came to a head this week when the existing coalition in the Municipality landed on the rocks.
A new Government of Local Unity (GLU) was subsequently formed with Johan Allers of the FF Plus as the new Mayor. The FF Plus invited the DA to join the GLU right from the outset.
The DA repeatedly refused to comply with the other parties and the public’s requests to replace Macpherson and finally walked out of the coalition of its own accord.
Here are some of the reasons why Macpherson was removed from his office by means of a motion of no confidence earlier this week:
• The director of Infrastructure in Oudtshoorn was dismissed in November 2023 without following the prescribed disciplinary processes. The Mayor (Macpherson) ignored the collective caucus decision in which three of the four coalition parties (FF Plus, ICOSA and Saamstaan) voted against the dismissal.
• The reason for the dismissal related to the relocation of a sewer pipe at a new development and, specifically, the question of who was liable for the cost of R3,1 million. The dismissed director insisted that the developer should pay for it. The Mayor said the Municipality should pay. This prompted widespread public outcry.
• In February this year, the sewer pipe matter was discussed in the council again along with the proposal that the Municipality should relocate the pipe. The coalition partners (FF Plus, ICOSA and Saamstaan) once again insisted that a legal opinion should be obtained. The Mayor, however, simply proceeded to instruct the Municipal Manager to have the pipe relocated.
• The same scenario played out at another construction site of the same developer, where the Mayor insisted that the Municipality should cover the electrical connection costs. The director and coalition partners felt that the developer should be the one to pay for it.
• A municipal budget was compiled without any input from the coalition partners. When the coalition partners expressed their dissatisfaction with it, the Mayor responded by saying that it is “his budget” and that the “smaller parties” do not have a say.
• In the council, the Mayor paid no attention to the coalition partners’ plans to reduce exorbitantly high property rates.
• On 7 June 2024, the DA failed to attend a caucus and the coalition partners once again decided not to adopt the budget. The Mayor negotiated with the ANC outside of the coalition and the budget was ultimately adopted with support from parties not in the coalition. In doing so, the DA had in effect already broken the coalition agreement.
• A frequent complaint was that the Mayor unilaterally reversed committee’s decisions and that he did not cooperate with the committee chairs.
• The Mayor restricted the powers of the FF Plus Speaker in various ways; for instance, he was not allowed to serve on the KKNK Committee or the Water and Sanitation Work Group.
• The Mayor also decided that an FF Plus councillor was no longer allowed to serve on the Housing Work Group. These instructions issued by the Mayor were unlawful seeing as the council makes appointments and not the mayor.
• The Office of the Mayor’s media officer served only the Mayor and not the coalition or any other party.
• The Mayor colluded with the PA to take the FF Plus’s place in the coalition, he also used the PA to lodge false complaints against the FF Plus Speaker, and kept undermining the Speaker.
The aforementioned makes it abundantly clear that the Mayor continually demonstrated contempt for the coalition agreement and the coalition partners. He acted as if the DA was the only party governing Oudtshoorn.
In discussing the matter with the DA, its leadership explicitly stated that no-one will dictate to them who to appoint as mayor.
The FF Plus does not believe that anyone was trying to dictate to anyone else, it was merely a sincere attempt to appoint a competent person as mayor in the interest of Oudtshoorn residents.
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