GEORGE NEWS - Since the DA and ID publicly announced their current courtship at the recent DA congress in Cape Town, George residents are questioning the future of the present coalition in the George Council between the ID and ANC.
Another interesting development in the Southern Cape is the dethroning of DA council member Diane de Jager as Oudts-hoorn's executive mayor, after three ID council members made a 180 degree turn on Tuesday and joined the ranks of the ANC.

It seems strange that although the DA and ID are shopping for engagement rings all over the Western Cape for their big day on 20 September, affairs between the ANC and ID blossom in the Southern Cape.
Marius Swart, DA member of parliament for George, says that comment on the current situation in George can only be given after 20 September when ID leader Patricia de Lille and DA leader Helen Zille announce their final decision on the parties’ relations for the 2011 elections.
"In the meantime they are busy with negotiations, and George Municipality de-finitely forms part of that discussion," says Swart.

No action before elections
Rodney Lentit, Western Cape ID secre-tary confirms that the current coalition between the ID and ANC will remain intact until further notice.
"The only reason for George Council to return to a DA and ID coalition before next year’s elections will be if there is a breach of trust between the ANC and ID leader-ship," says Lentit.
However, he states that the current state of affairs will undoubtedly change in the future, but only after next year’s elections.
This observation is shared by the Western Cape provincial DA spokesperson, Mart-Marié Haasbroek, who explains that the DA has no immediate plans to hold any by-elections for the Eden district and compete for new seats on council.

"There have been numerous problems with councillor Leon Dorfling of Eden Forum, ex-mayor of Eden District Municipality, who breached the cooperation agreement with the ID earlier this year," says Haasbroek.
She confirms that the DA decided to take a step back and wait until after the 2011 elections before refocusing their attention on George.

Deputy mayor for George Municipality and ANC member Castro Leholo comments that he perceives the current discussions between the ID and DA as ideo-logy on a very high political level.
Although he would not like to comment on the future as such, he has also been led to believe that George’s coalition will stay the same until after next year’s elections, regardless of what’s happening on 20 September.

"The ID and ANC coalition brought much needed stability to George," says Leholo.

Article: Michelle Pienaar