- A DA coalition with the Cederberg Eerste party and Freedom Front Plus has regained control of the Cederberg Municipality.
- It comes after a motion of no confidence in the Patriotic Alliance and ANC succeeded on Wednesday during a special council sitting.
- The municipality confirmed the new leadership who were elected after a "marathon meeting".
The re-election of Cederberg Mayor Ruben Richards from the Cederberg Eerste party could be challenged after a motion of no confidence in the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and ANC succeeded during a special council meeting this week.
Andre Mouton. also from Cederberg Eerste, was elected as deputy mayor and Dr John Haynes of the DA was elected speaker during a special council sitting.
Richards takes over from William Farmer, who joined the PA after his DA membership was suspended.
Farmer had sided with the ANC in July last year to remove Richards.
The decision to remove Richards in July came amid allegations of fraud and corruption levelled against him, prompting a forensic investigation.
As a result of the motion of no confidence in Richards, the multi-party coalition collapsed.
In October, the DA scored a major victory in the Cederberg Municipality.
The party managed to withstand a strong challenge from the PA, who had been eyeing a ward in Lambert's Bay.
The DA, along with its coalition partners, retained the ward, allowing them to take back control of the municipality.
The coalition between the Cederberg Eerste party, Freedom Front Plus and the DA fielded only one candidate.
Richards said the transition from the ANC-PA-led coalition to the new Cederberg Eerste coalition was supposed to be smooth.
"We stand today on the brink of a new era and a new opportunity for the municipality. We, the coalition, are not sure what we will find inside the house from which we were expelled seven months ago. We anticipate finding many unsavoury things, possibly some venomous snakes," he said.
Andricus van der Westhuizen, the DA's constituency head in Cederberg, said: "We are pleased that order has once again been restored following the damage since July 2022 that has been done by the ANC/PA alliance, and we trust that the Cederberg Eerste, FF Plus and DA multi-party coalition will bring stability, quality service delivery and good governance back to the communities of the Cederberg region."
The municipality confirmed on Wednesday evening that the new leadership had been elected after a "marathon meeting".
"The motion of no confidence submitted by the CE/DA/FF+ was passed against Speaker Maxwell Heins, Executive Mayor William J Farmer and Deputy Mayor Francois Kamfer," it said.
Cederberg was among the hung councils after the local government elections, and an agreement was signed between the DA, FF Plus, and the Cederberg First party. It had previously been governed by the ANC.
ANC provincial leader Cameron Dugmore said: "The ANC has taken note of developments in Cederberg. We respect local government legislation and regulations."
Dugmore said the councillors who have been elected had not attended meetings, in clear violation of the law.
"The matter is now before the courts. As the ANC, we lodged an objection with the IEC to the outcome of the by-election. There is clear evidence of electoral fraud by the Cederberg Eerste candidate," he said.
Meanwhile, The PA's Farmer said he was in consultation with his lawyer over the latest developments at the municipality.
Richards said on Friday: "I appeal to all councillors, workers, residents and friends of the Cederberg to join hands with us, the newly elected leadership, to fix our broken municipality. I believe there are enough good and competent people willing to put their shoulder to the wheel so that a better and stronger Cederberg Municipality can emerge from the ashes of mismanagement, both administrative and political."