Cape Town - Two of the five councils that make up the Cape Winelands District Municipality, Stellenbosch and Drakenstein, on Monday held their inaugural council meetings at which they elected mayors, deputy mayors and speakers for the next five years.
In Stellenbosch, mayor Gesie van Deventer made history when she was re-elected, becoming the first mayor of Stellenbosch Municipality to serve two consecutive terms.
Speaking after her nomination, she said: “I will continue to serve all our residents with dedication and fairness, whether you voted for me or not.
“Stellenbosch has time and time again been recognised by the national government and various independent organisations as one of the best-run municipalities in South Africa.”
Van Deventer previously served as mayor of Drakenstein from 2011 to 2016.
Jeremy Fasser was elected as deputy mayor. Fasser, who grew up in Cloetesville, said that he is ready to serve all communities of the Greater Stellenbosch region.
He previously served as the Mayco member for Youth, Sport and Culture.
In Drakenstein, 20 different political parties, including home-grown parties, contested in this year's local government elections but only two emerged victorious in the battle for the wards.
These were the DA with 26 wards or 79% of the vote and the ANC with seven wards, which came to 21% of the vote.
The DA’s nominees for mayor and deputy mayor were Conrad Poole and Gert Combrink respectively, both serving a second term, while the new speaker is Koos le Roux.
Meanwhile, the ANC in the Dullah Omar Region have issued a statement on the outcomes of the Regional Elections Team elections assessment meeting which was held last week.
Secretary Vuyiso Tyhalisisu said: “The meeting discussed disputes and ANC members de-campaigning the organisation who were also more profound in our base areas.
“Our structures have noted the names and details of ANC members who embarked on de-campaigning the ANC during the elections and this information has been relayed to the provincial structure for disciplinary action.”
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za