The Beaufort West Municipality is under the leadership of its third mayor in just eight months.
The Patriotic Alliance’s Francois Botha was elected during a council meeting on Tuesday.
He replaces Ashley Sauls who received his mayoral chain in February 2023.
Sauls took over from Thersia Prince – the wife of former mayor Truman Prince – after she resigned as mayor and councillor for the Patriotic Alliance.
The town has been plagued by financial and service delivery challenges.
But Botha says things are improving – and he believes they can meet the objectives of the turnaround plan.
“I’m so happy to sit with an administration team that knows exactly what it is doing. From the experience, I have sitting with them in a council as a councillor. I have seen the people working very hard and they really want to take the municipality to the next level”.
Meanwhile, the opposition party, the DA in Beaufort West is calling on Botha to put the interest of the people first as he assumes office.
DA caucus leader Shaun Meyers says they need stability.
“It’s a new mayor, with new ideas, new direction, which always put the municipality backwards. That’s very much problematic. In the near future, I don’t believe things will change. But as a municipality, I believe we can head in a positive direction and work together to bring change for the community’s betterment”.
