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New FF Plus Oudtshoorn mayor says tourism and basic service delivery top of agenda

New FF Plus Oudtshoorn mayor says tourism and basic service delivery top of agenda
Miss SA 2024 Mia Le Roux. (Photo: Gallo Images / Frennie Shivambu)
Suné Payne
By Suné Payne
18 Aug 2024
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Oudtshoorn – the capital of the Klein Karoo — has been in the news recently: pink feathers worn by Lady Gaga during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics were sourced in the region. New Miss SA Mia le Roux is from Oudtshoorn. And a coalition dubbed the ‘government of local unity’ has emerged – with the ANC and the FF Plus leading it.

Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) councillor Johan Allers was elected the new mayor of Oudtshoorn on 1 August. The Karoo municipality made headlines after the FF Plus ended a coalition with the Democratic Alliance (DA) in favour of a coalition with the African National Congress (ANC).

Allers, the former Speaker of the council, spoke to Daily Maverick two weeks after he was sworn in as mayor about the town’s recent successes, his vision and some of the issues within the Greater Oudtshoorn municipality, which covers Oudtshoorn, De Rust, Dysseldorp and other smaller settlements. 

Feathers and Miss SA 


The region – dubbed the Capital of the Klein Karoo – made headlines when it was announced that superstar Lady Gaga wore ostrich feathers from the region during her performance at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony. 



Then Oudtshoorn resident Mia le Roux became the first hearing-impaired woman to win the Miss South Africa title. 

oudtshoorn mia le roux Miss SA 2024 Mia Le Roux. (Photo: Gallo Images / Frennie Shivambu)



Allers said: “We’re really proud of all of that.” He said these successes could boost Oudtshoorn’s tourism sector and thus, the economy in the big Karoo town that is also dubbed the ostrich capital of the world – and also well known for its messy coalition politics.

Plans for the municipality 

Allers has been involved in politics since 1981, but only became an active member of an organisation in 1994, when he joined the FF Plus and remains a member. He worked in insurance before becoming a farmer. Born and raised in Oudtshoorn, after living in several cities, he and his family moved back to Oudtshoorn in 2017. 

He farms and his wife runs a guesthouse as well as cottages on their farm. 

When asked about his vision for the municipality, he said: “Well, first of all, I would like to see the tourism blossom… I would like to see people sleep two nights instead of one.” 

oudtshoorn

He said tourist routes should be properly maintained in a bid to keep tourists used to driving cars and having a standard of infrastructure. “So if your road surfaces aren’t maintained, then it’s a huge issue.” 

Allers said his biggest dream was that “in two or three years’ time, we will see that the town is really a town that is accessible for each and every tourist that they enjoy our museums,” and other attractions such as the Cango Caves and local waterfalls. 

Allers said this could only be achieved through proper infrastructure and maintenance of the roads. 

A focus for him – and on his agenda would be to concentrate on tourism, “because tourism brings jobs and if there’s jobs, the economy grows”. 

Allers also wanted a back-to-basics approach to service delivery. This included street maintenance, and improvements in informal settlements so “that it doesn’t look like we want people to live in a pigsty.” He said people needed to live in decent conditions, “although it is difficult to live in a shack in the first place, but to at least make the conditions outside so that it’s a reasonable type of living that people can live.”

Government of Local Unity


Although Oudtshoorn has notched up some positive news of late, it has not all been bedazzlement: the town’s messy coalition politics once again resurfaced. 

No single party gained a majority after the 2021 municipal elections. The DA and ANC both have seven seats, while other parties such as the FF Plus make up the rest of the 25-seat council.

 

After the 2021 elections, the ANC formed a government, with 24-year-old Chad Louw taking the mayoral chain. He was ousted in June 2022, by a coalition led by the DA, FF Plus, Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa (Icosa) and Suid Kaap Saamstaan. 

Read more: ANC taking legal advice after the ousting of Oudtshoorn’s young mayor

At the end of July, reports began to emerge of a fracture between the DA, FF Plus, Icosa and Saamstaan coalition – mainly over the former mayor’s alleged involvement with a developer for a new project. The parties did not support the DA’s budget adjustment and thus, the coalition was broken, leading to a blame game between the DA and FF Plus leaders about who broke the coalition. 

Read more: Another DA-Freedom Front Plus coalition collapses in the Western Cape

Allers said problems started in November 2023, and claimed DA mayor Chris Macpherson “was doing his own thing and operated like a dictator.” Allers alleged Macpherson wanted “special treatment” for a developer of a project that was still in the development phase.

Allers said this issue led to disagreements within the coalition and spread to the municipal administration, which led to a director leaving the municipality. The disagreements within the coalition then came to a head in February during the budget adjustment period. 

Within the coalition, some parties wanted the developer to pay for cost-related expenses, while Allers claimed the mayor wanted the municipality to foot a R3.1-million bill. This was followed by a legal opinion which was not concluded, claimed Allers. This led to fights within the coalition, including the parties refusing to support the budget. 

Coalition broken


The parties then voted against the budget – and thus, the DA, FF Plus, Icosa and Saamstaan coalition failed. 

In response to this claim, DA Western Cape leader Tertuis Simmers told Daily Maverick that “Icosa brought this allegation to our attention more than once, but could not substantiate their allegation. As a party of the rule of law and due process, we cannot act against people on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations.”

Simmers said the FF Plus had not brought the matter to their attention. 

The parties then voted against the budget – and thus, the DA, FF Plus, Icosa and Saamstaan coalition fell apart. 

According to Allers, a meeting was called for all the political parties to come together and find a plan to govern, but the DA did not attend. 

At the time this was happening, letters between the DA leadership and the FF Plus were exchanged and meetings were held in a bid to save the coalition. This failed – with DA Federal Chair Helen Zille putting the blame squarely on the FF Plus after it walked out of a meeting. 

Then on 1 August, Macpherson was kicked out of office. Allers was voted in as mayor, with Mziwoxolo Tyatya from the ANC elected deputy mayor and Suzanne Jansen from the PA taking the Speaker role. Smaller parties such as Advieskantoor and the Oudtshoorn Gemeenskap Initiatief also received roles within the mayoral committee in this new government of local unity – a take on the national government of unity. 

Western Cape FF Plus leader Dr Corné Mulder said on 1 August this change in government was due to “the pleas of former coalition partners of the DA in Oudtshoorn to replace Mr Macpherson amid numerous complaints and grievances.” In a statement, Mulder said: “The DA refused to comply with the requests and decided to rather break its coalition agreement with the FF Plus and other parties than appoint another candidate in the mayoral position.” 

Mulder added: “It is regrettable that the DA’s unyielding attitude resulted in this. The FF Plus will, however, keep doing everything it can to ensure good cooperation between the new governing partners.” 

Read more: ANC and FF Plus join forces in new local governance model in Western Cape

Daily Maverick journalist Velani Ludidi said the new venture between the FF Plus and the ANC could potentially become a fixture in the Western Cape – which began with Oudtshoorn and would be followed in other provincial municipalities. DM 

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