Cape Town - ANC and Patriotic Alliance (PA) used their numbers to ensure the re-election of ANC councillor Johanna Botha as mayor of the Central Karoo District Municipality (CKDM) on Monday.
Botha retained the mayoral seat following the resignation of mayor and leader of the Patriotic Alliance, Gayton McKenzie, after only serving a year in office.
ANC regional spokesperson, Trudy Dijana, said Botha who has previously served as the mayor of the Central Karoo, was well experienced in local government.
“The ANC wants to welcome the election of Johanna Botha as the Executive Mayor of Central Karoo District Municipality.
“We have all the confidence in the comrade, more so being a woman who is well experienced in the local government sphere and has served Laingsburg and district councils with excellence.
“We hope that she will get all the support from her colleagues with the new vision she is bringing to the council. Her political record and track record as mayor speaks for itself in different municipalities she was leading,” Dijana said.
Botha said her priorities as mayor will include youth development, job creation, community development and ensuring a stable administration in CKDM.
Outgoing McKenzie said his proudest achievements as district mayor included repairing five of six communal pools and providing potable water from taps in yards for the people of Leeu Gamka, after they had been drinking dirty water from asbestos tanks, contaminated by dead animals.
“I found people using bucket toilets for decades; today no one is using bucket toilets. People used the veld and today they are using flushing toilets.
“Children in those areas were not going to swim at the height of summer, but under my leadership, five of those pools are working and the children swam and will swim again this year and in time to come,” he said.
DA constituency head in the Central Karoo, Deidré Baartman, said it was appalling to see how the PA continues to help the ANC to get into power.
“The PA has helped the ANC in Johannesburg, Beaufort West, Gqeberha, and now in the Central Karoo. The list goes on.
“Voters must beware, the PA will help to keep the ANC in power in 2024 as well. This will see South Africa completely destroyed,” he said.
Cape Times