DA controls council meeting
2011-04-07
Anne Kruger
FACTIONALISM within the ANC may have led to the poor attendance of the recent town council meeting of Drakenstein on Wednesday. The Boland ANC is known to be severely split between groups supporting the Fransman leadership, and those opposing it. Amongst the ANC/NNP councillors absent from the meeting was Abe Bekeer, Fransman’s deputy in the ANC Western Cape. Bekeer is likely to be the ANC’s mayoral candidate for the election in Drakenstein. The Fransman faction is in the minority in the Boland, and there has been bitter in-fighting locally regarding the nomination of candidates. Only 22 councillors from the ANC/NPP coalition attended the meeting, leaving the 25 councillors of the DA coalition in the majority. This meant that a closed meeting to discuss the forensic report of the internal auditor (regarding matters like the acquisition of flags for the Soccer World Cup without a tender process) left the ANC in troubled waters. When the DA motion calling for an external audit was carried, ANC councillors abruptly terminated the meeting by walking out. The audit could leave some senior officials in hot water over matters like the purchase of the World Cup flags. The matter can however only be tabled after the election which takes place on 18 May, as the next council meeting at the end of April has been set aside for approval of the budget.
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