FLTR: Deputy Mayor Vlancio Donson, Mayor Chad Louw and Speaker Colan Sylvester
Oudtshoorn, 18 November 2021 – There is no better time for the next generation of leaders to take their rightful place. It has become time for the younger generation to lead, certainly not getting rid of our older and experienced people, but rather grab the opportunity for our experienced people to assist, guide and lift us.
These are the words of the 24-year-old new executive mayor of the Greater Oudtshoorn, Councillor Chad Louw of the African National Congress (ANC) delivering his acceptance speech on Wednesday, 17 November 2021, during the Council’s inaugural meeting held at the Municipality’s Banquet Hall. The meeting was also attended by the political representatives of the various political parties, spouses of the new councillors and members of the public who attended from a separate venue, the Municipal Auditorium Hall. The proceedings of the meeting were live-streamed on the Greater Oudtshoorn Municipality’s Facebook page to allow more citizens to follow the meeting.
The 25 newly elected councillors of the Greater Oudtshoorn comprising 13 ward councillors and 12 proportional councillors were sworn in as members of the Oudtshoorn Municipal Council. This was followed by the election of the speaker, executive mayor, executive deputy mayor.
Mayor Louw is flanked by Cllr. Vlancio Donson of the Independent Civics Organisation of South Africa (ICOSA) as the executive deputy mayor and Cllr. Colan Sylvester of the Oudtshoorn Gemeenskap Inisiatief (OGI) as Speaker, to form the top three positions of Council.
“Thank you to everyone who put their trust in me to be able to take the Greater Oudtshoorn forward,” said Louw, who is also a ward councillor for Ward 9 in Dysselsdorp a small settlement situated 20km outside Oudtshoorn.
“We are all aware of the status of service delivery in the Greater Oudtshoorn, even with the recent elections we have seen that people no longer have trust in political parties. I hope I have the cooperation of all of us here, and I hope and trust that we will work very well together. I know this is the beginning of great things for the Greater Oudsthoorn. I know this is the beginning of service delivery, this is the beginning of hope, this is the beginning of new possibilities for better communities,” Louw added.
Representatives of all political parties in the Council congratulated Mayor Louw on his new role as the executive mayor of the Greater Oudtshoorn. Louw is the youngest mayor of the Greater Oudtshoorn since the dawn of democracy and is currently the youngest mayor in the Western Cape and possibly the whole country. Mayor Louw is yet to announce his mayoral committee soon.
Council, however, proceeded to elect its representatives in the Garden Route District Municipality who are: Cllr. Jerome Lambaatjeen of the Democratic Alliance (DA), Cllr. Lilluth van Rooyen (ANC) and Cllr. Joey Canary (ANC).