“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 were the words of the new mayor of the Greater Oudtshoorn, Chad Louw (24) of the ANC, delivering his acceptance speech on Wednesday 17 November during the newly elected council’s inaugural meeting.
The meeting was also attended by representatives of the various political parties, spouses of the new councillors and members of the public who watched the meeting on screen in the municipal auditorium. The meeting was also live-streamed on the Greater Oudtshoorn Municipality’s Facebook page.
The 25 newly elected councillors of the Greater Oudtshoorn – 13 ward councillors and 12 proportional councillors – were sworn in, after which followed the election of the speaker,
“Thank you to everyone who put their trust in me to be able to take the Greater Oudtshoorn forward,” said Louw, after being elected. He is 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 Oudtshoorn. 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.
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. He is to announce his mayoral committee soon.
The council representatives elected to serve in the Garden Route District Municipality are Jerome Lambaatjeen (DA), Lilluth van Rooyen (ANC) and Joey Canary (ANC).
(Issued by the Oudtshoorn Municipality’s Communication & Media Services on Thursday, 18 November 2021)