Gayton McKenzie, president of the Patriotic Alliance, was on Thursday morning sworn in as councillor of Laingsburg and immediately seconded to the district council as Laingsburg’s representative.
“I am very humbled to be entrusted with this secondment to the district. Let’s see what happens on Monday. I’ve learnt never to discuss things that may happen in future too much and we’re taking it one step at a time,” said McKenzie.
McKenzie has already publicly announced that he would like to be considered for the job of district mayor. He replaced the former mayor of Laingsburg, Mitchell Smith, as a proportional representation councillor.
A vote will be taken on Monday in the district council, based in Beaufort West, as to who will be sworn in as the next district mayor following the recent resignation of the ANC’s Johanna Botha.
McKenzie said that should he be elected, he would turn the economy of Central Karoo around in pursuit of job creation for the largely impoverished semi-desert area’s residents.
McKenzie, who has been in politics since 2013, also stated that he will not be drawing a salary or agreeing to benefits from any of the other perks.
Instead, he wants the money to be donated to the needs of the elderly and abused in the district, he said, adding that he will be donating some of his own personal funds to the area for a mayoral project to build an old-age home.
additional info supplied by africanewsglobal.co.za
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