DA councillor Ewald Loock was elected as the new Executive Mayor of the Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality during the municipality’s inaugural council meeting in Graaff-Reinet.
This follows the DA
entering into a coalition agreement with the Compatriots of South Africa (CSA)
and the Freedom Front Plus (FF+). The coalition agreement was finalised shortly
before the commencement of today’s council meeting.
According to a statement issued by the Democratic Alliance’s Andrew Whitfield (DA Eastern Cape Provincial Chairperson), Loock has served as a
public representative for the best part of 26 years – 13 years of which he
served as the Mayor of the erstwhile Baviaans Municipality.
“The CSA’s Laughton Hoffman
was elected as Speaker of Council and DA’s Ricardo Smith was voted in as
Chief Whip. The councillor from the FF+ was elected to serve as a
representative in the Sarah Baartman District Council,” Whitfield sain in the statement.
Dr Beyers Naude will be
sending three councillors to be representatives in the Sarah Baartman District
Council. This will be one councillor from the DA, one from the FF+ and one from
the ANC.
“This coalition opens up
new opportunities for the DA and its partners to bring change to the Sarah
Baartman District by possibly taking over government of this district
municipality.”
Some of the key aspects that will be looked at in the Sarah
Baartman District includes improving the roads, economic growth, development of the
tourism sector and better support in terms of disaster management.
