PA leader Gayton McKenzie and Charmaine Laubscher celebrate her move to the PA
Image: SUPPLIED
Saldanha Bay’s leadership is once again in flux after acting mayor Charmaine Laubscher resigned on Friday morning, just a day after crossing the floor from the DA to the PA.
This comes just two weeks after she took up the mayoral chain following Andre Truter’s departure to the private sector.
Laubscher had been serving as the municipality’s deputy mayor before stepping in temporarily to lead the municipality on February 1.
Her resignation means the Saldanha Bay municipality, on the West Coast of the Western Cape, is now without a mayor and a deputy mayor.
IOL understands Laubscher informed the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on Friday morning to formally declare a vacancy in her council seat.
In terms of electoral law, when a councillor resigns or changes party affiliation in a way that affects their seat, the IEC must be notified so the vacancy can be officially recorded and the process to fill it — either through a by-election in a ward or a party list replacement — can begin.
The council will now have to convene to elect a new mayor and deputy mayor.
Approached for comment, Laubscher confirmed her resignation.
"That is correct, I have resigned," she said. "I joined the PA [on Thursday] and informed the IEC the next morning."
Laubscher said her decision was about where she believes she can best serve the community.
“I want to focus on my people and help them,” she said.
She confirmed that she was now working full time for the PA.
Laubscher also ruled out a return to municipal affairs.
“I will be on the ground and serve the people of the community under the PA banner,” she said.
“That is where I believe I am needed most right now ... I want to work directly with residents, listen to their concerns and assist where I can.
"For me, it is about being visible and present in the community."
PA leader Gayton McKenzie said Laubscher’s decision to join the party had opened the door for the PA to reshape the council and “remove all DA leadership there”.
He said Chantell Tejada was the party's mayoral candidate for Saldanha Bay.
Political analyst Professor André Duvenhage of North-West University said he was not surprised.
“The PA sees the DA as their number one enemy because the DA is the most dominant party within the Western Cape,” he said.
“Secondly, the DA and the PA are both working more or less within the same so-called coloured constituency, or maybe even a broader constituency, but primarily a so-called coloured constituency.
“The move is what politics is all about, because politics, at best, is a dirty game.
“The fact of the matter is that using strategy to take over a municipality, I believe, is within the rules.
“But if a person is bought over, then it becomes a lot more problematic. Then I would say it is an ethics violation.”
IOL