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The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced that Bitou's ward 7 will be contested in a by-election in just over a month.
This after councillor Nolan Stuurman suddenly resigned last week - just hours before the court action involving the move by local ANC councillors, including Stuurman, to take over the DA-led municipality and oust its leadership started in the Western Cape High Court.
The by-election will be held on September 17. Voters will also make their way to the polls in nine other wards across the country.
The court action started on last week Monday with an order preventing the IEC from filling the purported vacancy in respect of deputy mayor and COPE member Adam van Rhyner's seat in the Bitou council. The case was then postponed to a date to be determined by Judge President John Hlope this week.
The municipality declared Van Rhyner's seat vacant after issues around his COPE membership status after allegedly breaching the party's agreement with the DA where there is a coalition arrangement in hung councils, by aligning with the ANC in a call for a special council meeting to serve a motion of no confidence in among others mayor Memory Booysen.
The saga started on June 20 when six ANC councillors and Van Rhyner called for the meeting. Speaker Annelise Olivier refused to convene the meeting on July 1 as she claimed it was against the municipality's rules of order and turned to the court to stop the meeting from taking place.
The matter was however postponed indefinitely, but this followed a counter application on July 4 by the six councillors and Van Rhyner seeking an order to force Olivier to convene the meeting, claiming that it is in line with the rules of order, as well as to set aside the municipality's decision to declare Van Rhymer's seat vacant and declare that he remains a councillor until lawfully unseated. They also sought an order to stop the replacement of Van Rhyner.
The matter was postponed until last Monday for hearing as the court was in recess at the time.
