It was a hollow victory, the ANC kept me in power – DA Knysna mayor

Democratic Alliance (DA) Knysna mayor Mark Willemse on Thursday survived the fourth motion of no confidence (MONC) tabled against him by his own party.

EWN reports that Willemse, however, described this as a “hollow victory”.

Willemse was quoted as saying that many of his supporters felt betrayed that his party was pushing for his removal.

“Albeit I survived, it was a hollow victory, as it took the ANC to keep me in power. It’s not something that I cherish as a loyal DA supporter. I have to consider my options going forward,” Willemse was quoted as saying.

It was reported that the Knysna Ratepayers’ Association supported Willemse, with its representative, Samantha Lurie, quoted as saying that the association found the mayor to be a man of credibility and integrity.

“We trust that he can turn this town around. Everything we have seen in the last year gives us full confidence that he should remain the mayor. He is the people’s mayor,” Lurie was quoted as saying.

In a statement released on Thursday, the DA explained how Willemse and councillor Peter Myers made a decision to go against their caucus and against a request by the leadership and voted with the ANC in a MONC to remove the DA mayor.

“In the process, Willemse accepted and got elected as mayor by a majority of ANC councillors. He has since been kept in his position by the ANC and we expect the ANC to support him in this motion today. He is effectively an ANC mayor,” the DA said ahead of the MONC on Thursday.

(Compiled by Makhosandile Zulu. Additional reporting, Kaunda Selisho)

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