THE Central Karoo District Municipality has elected an all women executive to lead its council.
On Tuesday the municipality became the second district in the province to hold its inaugural meeting to elect a new leadership.
The ANC’s Johanna Botha and Liezel Paulse were elected mayor and speaker and the Patriotic Alliance’s Tershia Prince was named deputy mayor.
This is the only council in the province thus far to elect an all women-led executive. Statistics from the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) showed that of the 406 councillors elected in the Western Cape, 63.79 were men and only 36.21% were women.
On a national level, only 3 498 women councillors were elected - accounting for 37% while 5975 were councillors, 63%. Of the tota lwomen elected, 2 294 were elected from the PR lists, 1 202 from wards and only two were independent candidates who contested wards. And of the total men elected, 2 712 came from proportional representation (PR) lists, 3 214 from wards and a further 49 were independents contesting wards.
Central Karoo is the only district controlled by an ANC-led coalition in the Western Cape after the party secured an agreement with the PA , which secured wins in Beaufort West, Laingsburg and Prince Albert municipalities.
The ANC with its four seats, gained a majority out of council’s 15 seats after joining forces with the PA’s two seats and the Karoo Democratic Force (KDF) and their two seats. The DA with their four seats and the Good Party with a single seat will remain on the opposition seats.
The PA’s provincial deputy leader, Sammy Claassen, praised Tershia on her election, adding that it was through her work and that of her husband, former Beaufort West ANC mayor Truman Prince, for securing ‘pole position’ for the party.
The ANC’s regional secretary in Central Karoo, Windy Plaatjies, also praised council’s decision as a victory for women.