Marianne Merten
The political storm in the Western Cape hamlet of Saron has settled after the African National Congress national disciplinary committee overturned the decision of its provincial officials to expel the mayor and his deputy.
For several months tempers ran high in Saron – a tiny town in the shadow of the Swartruggens mountains with a population of 7E500 – after the mayor and his deputy were first suspended from the party and then expelled for ill-discipline.
Mayor Dan Kotze and Hubert Lesch were charged after failing to nominate and second another councillor chosen as mayor by the provincial ANC deployment committee during a closed-door meeting late last year. Both had the backing of the Saron Residents’ Association (SRA), and continued to serve as mayor and deputy major pending last Saturday’s appeal to the national disciplinary committee chaired by Minister of Education Kader Asmal.
Following the committee ruling in Cape Town, Kotze resigned as mayor this week but remains an ordinary councillor – and he is still an ANC member. Lesch also has been reinstated into the party ranks and stays on in his post. Both men have apologised in writing to the provincial ANC chair and re-pledged their loyalty to the party.
According to municipal ordinance, Lesch will serve as acting mayor until the regular council meeting next week. Town clerk Julius Burmeister said if there was no new candidate or no one was willing to be appointed, the deputy mayor would remain acting mayor until the local government elections in November.
SRA chair Willem Benjamin said the organisation is “not completely happy” with these developments. The association mobilised support for Kotze, saying he was being victimised by provincial party officials, and even met ANC national chair Mosiua Lekota. Benjamin said the matter would be discussed at Thursday’s asso- ciation meeting which would also decide whether to remain affiliated to the ANC.