Beaufort West by-election set for May, after DA mayor quit in February
Ward 7 in Beaufort West became vacant when Koos Malooi abruptly resigned from his post in February‚ amid rumours about leadership squabbles in his party
The DA and the ANC have two months to drum up support to take control of the Beaufort West council, also the oldest municipality in the country. The Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) has announced May 24 as the date for the by-election. Ward 7 in Beaufort West became vacant when DA mayor Koos Malooi abruptly resigned from his post in February‚ amid rumours about leadership squabbles in his party. According to the IEC‚ the ward has 4‚131 registered voters and just more than 50% of the voters turned up to vote for Malooi in 2016’s local government elections. Currently‚ Beaufort West municipality has a hung council. In last year’s local government elections‚ the DA and ANC won six seats each‚ but the DA took power after it negotiated a coalition agreement with the Karoo Democratic Force. Should the ANC win the upcoming by-election‚ it will assume power and may bring back controversial former mayor Truman Prince. Meanwhile‚ in KwaZulu-Natal‚ Nquthu Municipality will hold an election afte...
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