Oudtshoorn: A town hijacked by a corrupt minority
Thursday 7 August 2014
The DA calls on the ANC Secretary General, Gwede Mantashe, as well as President Jacob Zuma, as leader of the ANC, to openly condemn the abuse of democracy in Oudtshoorn.
It is exactly one year since, in the by-election of 7 August 2013, the DA became the majority party in Oudtshoorn and was ready to take over the terminally ill Oudtshoorn council.
However, for the past year, the ANC has blatantly disregarded the clearly expressed will of the voters and has refused to relinquish power. This has led to an array of court battles, ranging from the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal to the Constitutional Court and currently the High Court in Cape Town. Millions of taxpayers' rands have been wasted on these court cases.
It is becoming abundantly clear that this is an intentional tactic of the ANC to cling to power in Oudtshoorn until the municipal elections in 2016. They are planning to continue with their illegitimate, unconstitutional and very expensive behaviour until then - hoping that in these elections they will regain the majority.