Cape Town - Former MEC for Mobility in the Western Cape Daylin Mitchell has been elected as the new speaker for the Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP) on Monday.
At 36, Mitchell is the youngest speaker to ever be elected to this position in WCPP history.
The election was made in a sitting chaired by Judge President of the Western Cape Division of the High Court John Hlophe.
Mitchell became a member of the fifth Western Cape Provincial Parliament in September 2015.
He was re-elected to the sixth parliament of the Western Cape in 2019 during which he served as deputy chief whip of the Majority Party, chairperson of the standing committee on transport and public works and chairperson of the conduct committee. In 2021 he was appointed as Western Cape MEC for Mobility.
With Mitchell departing from his department, Premier Alan Winde has called on Agriculture MEC Dr Ivan Meyer to oversee the mobility portfolio.
“Outgoing Minister Mitchell has been an invaluable part of our provincial Cabinet.
“But he now takes on a very important role in our government, which I believe he will fulfil with professionalism. I wish him all the best,” Winde said.
He thanked Mitchell for his steady hand in guiding the process to fully establish the mobility department, which is set to be fully constituted and functioning in the new financial year on April 1.
Mitchell has been at the forefront in trying to curb the taxi violence plaguing the province and has put his foot down by closing routes and taxi ranks.
Mitchell’s election comes despite former speaker Masizole Mnqasela filing an urgent interdict at the Western Cape High Court to prevent the DA from nominating someone to fill the vacancy resulting from an alleged cessation of his DA membership.
His interdict also aims to prevent Secretary of the Legislature advocate Romeo Adams from taking steps to fill the vacancy pending the outcome of the hearing against him.
Part of the relief as stated in the filed documents is that the DA pay costs of the application.
Earlier this month, the DA terminated Mnqasela’s membership and instructed that he reapply to join the party.
According to the “Cape Times”, despite Mnqasela allegedly responding through a letter demanding the withdrawal of the cessation of his membership, a Federal Executive meeting concluded to reject it.
This meant Mnqasela was relieved as a member of the provincial legislature and speaker.
The urgent application is set to be heard on Thursday.