Picture – Ward 11 Councillor Pofadder of the Democratic Alliance.
The roller-coaster ride of Knysna’s political scene took another loop yesterday (Tuesday 15 October) when the Democratic Alliance’s Ward 11 Councillor, Donovan Pofadder, tendered his resignation with immediate effect.
Worse yet for Knysna’s ruling party, was the content of his resignation letter, which was hand-delivered to the Municipal Manager’s office. In it he quite pointedly laid blame on the DA for his decision to resign, and especially mentioned his disapproval of the manner in which the party is treating Mayor Mark Willemse.
“I feel strongly that we as a party lost focus on what is important, while infighting within our ranks was taking priority.” he stated, “Positions of power became more important than the people we had promised to serve.”
“I wish Mark well in his battle and apologise for not being able to give him the support he deserves or continue building a better Knysna under his leadership.”
Whilst news of this resignation was buzzing about the Municipal hallways, and indeed social media, the current Mayor (or ex-Mayor, – it is difficult to keep up) Mark Willemse was in constant communication with his lawyers who were fighting his case in the High Court in Cape Town.
This in an urgent application for three interdicts:- The first to prevent the DA from withdrawing his party membership using the ‘De Lille Clause’, the second, to prevent the IEC (Independent Electoral Commission) from going ahead with a bi-election for his ward (Ward 9), and the third, to prevent the Knysna Municipality from declaring a vacancy in that ward.
An interim order had been issued on the previous Friday by High Court Judge Erasmus so that all three of these matters could be put on hold pending the outcome of today’s court proceedings.
It is expected that once the evidence presented by the legal teams during the course of Tuesday has been taken into consideration, judgement will be made before the end of this week.
Meanwhile, Councillor Pofadder’s resignation may put Knysna’s Democratic Alliance in a precarious position. Should the party’s hierarchy succeed in ousting Willemse, the ANC and the DA will be on equal footing with eight council seats each. The current Deputy Mayor Aubrey Tshengwa and Council Speaker Titi Gombo are both ANC members, so there will no doubt be some very interesting political jousting in the chambers to see who rules the council and who is opposition.
