The South African Communist Party (SACP) has warned that the Beaufort West municipality “is in more trouble than ever” after the appointment of Derick Welgemoed as the acting municipal manager, effective from 1 May. 

Welgemoed was appointed as acting municipal manager during a council sitting in Beaufort West on Tuesday, 18 April. He was a Beaufort West councillor for the Democratic Alliance (DA) up until last week when the Patriotic Alliance (PA) president, Gayton McKenzie, announced that Welgemoed had joined the party. 

I wanna welcome Councillor Derek Welgemoed from the DA to @OnsBaizaNie, he is joining the fastest growing political party. Welcome Councillor 💚 pic.twitter.com/z2OQkSrhTL

— Gayton McKenzie (@GaytonMcK) April 13, 2023

Daily Maverick tried to get comment from Beaufort West Mayor Ashley Sauls about the appointment, but calls and texts to his phone numbers went unanswered, and calls and texts to Welgemoed also went unanswered.  

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The SACP’s Central Karoo region spokesperson, Mawonga Furmen, told Daily Maverick on Wednesday that PA leader Gayton McKenzie, who “instructed the PA/KDF/ANC coalition to vote for this appointment at all cost, once mocked Derick Welgemoed as ‘a DA councillor who owes the municipality R600,000 in electricity’ in reference to disputes between the DA and PA over electricity bills in the region”. 

Welgemoed was a municipal manager at Beaufort West from 1996 to 2006. In 2018, he became a councillor when the DA won a ward from the ANC during a by-election. He became the speaker of the council in February 2021, but he was removed soon after through a no-confidence motion by the ANC and the KDF.  

Currently, the Beaufort West municipality is run by a PA/ANC/KDF coalition while the DA and the Good party are in opposition.  

Read more in Daily Maverick: Coalition Country

Current Beaufort West council composition 

Source: IEC 2021 elections dashboard

Welgemoed must serve with integrity

“We call on Mr Welgemoed to serve the community with integrity… concentrate on much-needed consequent management, and… put the values of the community first,” said Schaun Meyers, a DA councillor in Beaufort West. 

“The PA-ANC coalition in Beaufort West has once again proven that they are ardent supporters of cadre deployment… Mr Welgemoed, former DA councillor, jumped ship to the Patriotic Alliance to fill the position of acting municipal manager at the Beaufort West municipality, starting 1 May 2023,” said Meyers. 

The DA caucus expected the announcement, since “Mr Welgemoed started to vote against his caucus in favour of the coalition government”, said Meyers. 

“The DA raised questions on the sudden suspicious postponement of the interview process to employ the much-needed municipal manager to bring stability into the financially strained municipality,” he added. 

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Community activist Brian Jooste said the appointment of Welgemoed came as no surprise. What did surprise him was that “not even a week after he walked over to PA, he was appointed as acting municipal manager”. DM