‘High stakes’ Lambert’s Bay by-election will determine who runs Cederberg municipality

11 Oct 2022

In the Cederberg municipality, a by-election about to take place has attracted bigwigs such as Helen Zille (DA), Gwede Mantashe (ANC) and Gayton McKenzie (PA). This by-election will cement a victory for coalitions fighting for control of the municipality.

Wednesday’s by-election in the small west coast town of Lambert’s Bay, about 280km from Cape Town, will determine who governs the Cederberg municipality. The by-election is for “high stakes”, said elections analyst Wayne Sussman.

On Wednesday, 12 October, candidates William Josef Farmer (Patriotic Alliance), Beverly van der Heever Schalk (African National Congress), Ferdinand Fransman (Economic Freedom Fighters), and John Hayes (Democratic Alliance) will vie for the position of Ward 5 councillor. The ward is situated within Lambert’s Bay, known for its pristine beaches and fishing community.

Farmer, then with the DA, won the ward in the 2021 municipal elections, garnering 42.48% of valid votes. During a council sitting in July 2022, Farmer voted to remove Dr Ruben Richards as mayor of Cederberg municipality during a motion of no confidence, according to News24. Richards, from Cederberg Eerste, was in a coalition with the DA and the Freedom Front Plus to govern the municipality. When Richards was removed, the new governing majority of the PA and ANC voted in Farmer as mayor.

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As a result, the DA terminated Farmer’s membership and the ward became vacant. Farmer then defected to the PA and will contest the ward under the banner of his new political party. This, according to the PA, was in direct retaliation for the defection of Matzikama councillor Christo Boks to the DA.

Read more in Daily Maverick: "Incoming Matzikama Ward 7 councillor’s job: unite a community divided by politics"

Sussman said the winner of this by-election will determine who governs the municipality’s 11-seat council — either a coalition of the DA and Freedom Front Plus (who controlled before Richards’ removal), or the current PA/ANC coalition.

During this by-election campaign, party bigwigs visited the area: DA Federal Chairperson Helen Zille, ANC National Chairperson Gwede Mantashe and PA President Gayton McKenzie all came to bolster support for their candidates.

When Daily Maverick asked Mantashe about the by-election when he was in the area last week, he said: “If we work hard and we win back this ward from the DA, it will be a bonus.”

DA Western Cape interim leader Tertuis Simmers told Daily Maverick that the party was ready for the by-election.

“The Ward 5 by-election is important not only for our DA voter base but also the broader community as a whole as it will determine if the majority of parties on council who are values-based will form a values-led coalition government thereafter, which will ensure that the Cederberg municipality moves forward and becomes sustainable,” said Simmers.

“This election is not only about tomorrow; it’s about whether the community on the ground (rural voters) can express themselves through the electoral system,” said Sammy Claassen, the deputy provincial leader of the PA.

He added that the DA and the ANC had failed communities, pointing to rolling blackouts under the ANC and accusing the DA of failing to hold the ANC to account.

“The rural area will show them tomorrow,” said Claassen. DM

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