Sewage water in a dam in the Matzikama municipality on 13 October 2021, when the municipality was reeling from poor service delivery. (Photo: Edrea du Toit / Gallo Images / Rapport) 
The Western Cape Division of the High Court will on Thursday, 26 June hear an application from the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Matzikama municipality to set aside the results of the 29 May council meeting that removed it from governance in favour of an ANC-led coalition.
This is the latest development in the ongoing saga surrounding the political leadership of the Western Cape municipality.
Matzikama was one of 16 hung councils in the province after the 2021 local government elections. Its 15-seat council was governed by a coalition of the DA and the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) until 29 May 2025, when motions of no-confidence were served on the DA mayor, Johan van der Hoven; deputy mayor, Amelia Job; and council speaker, Andreas Sindyamba.
The no-confidence motions were passed with the support of renegade DA councillor Christo Boks.
The new leadership is a coalition of the African National Congress (ANC), Patriotic Alliance (PA), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the Good party.
Read more: New coalition wrests governance of Matzikama from DA/FF+
In papers before the court, the DA claimed that the moment Boks voted against his DA caucus his membership of the party was cancelled. It wants the court to declare the decisions made at the 29 May meeting as unconstitutional, unlawful and invalid.
Court papers were filed in the name of axed speaker Sindyamba.
New council speaker Johan Muller (ANC) confirmed that the party would oppose the application.
The DA’s constituency head in Matzikama, Thomas Walters, said the ANC’s takeover was “tantamount to a coup”. He told Daily Maverick the party believed it had a “strong case”.
29 May council sitting
According to the DA’s court papers, the party called for a break in the council sitting of 29 May after eight councillors (including Boks) voted in favour of the motions of no confidence.
When the councillors returned, Sindyamba said that Boks was no longer a member of the DA and had lost his council seat. Sindyamba asked that the motions of no-confidence be moved to the next council sitting, pending a clarification on Boks’ status.
The DA caucus, excluding Boks, then left the meeting. There were nine councillors present.
Municipal Manager Lionel Phillips told the meeting that a South African Local Government Association representative had advised him that the meeting could continue if there was a majority.
The motions of no-confidence in the DA councillors were then passed, and Muller was elected as speaker, Monica Bottom (PA) as mayor and Xolani Tsetu (EFF) as deputy mayor.
Previous troubles
Matzikama is in the northwestern Western Cape and comprises the towns of Vanrhynsdorp, Vredendal and Klawer.
In 2023, the municipality made headlines after water provision stopped in Vanrhynsdorp and Vredendal, caused by a multitude of factors, including alleged sabotage, poor and aged infrastructure, and the municipality being unable to attract skilled directors because it could not pay high salaries.
The water crisis occurred in the middle of the Namaqualand flower season, when tourists flock to the region.
Read more: How two Western Cape towns ran dry – Coke bottles, missing director, ageing canals, broken pipes
Following that, an investigative report found that the deputy mayor’s son had been hired irregularly by the municipality, without having the required qualifications.
These events played out at the same time as ANC councillor Jan Koopman resigned as a ward councillor for Klawer and joined the DA.
During the 2023/2024 audit season, the municipality received a clean audit.
Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission of SA has announced that a by-election to fill Boks’ vacant ward seat will take place on 20 August.
Read more: Incoming Matzikama Ward 7 councillor’s job: unite a community divided by politics
Its will be the second time since the 2021 municipal elections that the ward will be contested. In the 2021 elections, Boks won the ward as a PA candidate. He resigned from the PA and joined the DA in early 2022. A buy-election was held in July 2022, which Boks won.
He has since joined the ANC, of which he was a member before joining the PA, and will probably be the ANC’s candidate in the by-election. DM