Stellenbosch mayor, Adv. Gesie van Deventer, now has an office in Franschhoek. The Mayor spends the first Friday of every month in Franschhoek. Upon taking office in August 2016, Mayor van Deventer realised that taking frequent meetings in the boardroom of the municipal buildings is not ideal. She needed an office space where she can work and receive appointments in a professional environment.
It has been seventeen years since Franschhoek last had a mayoral office. The last Franschhoek mayor, Dr Norman Kahlberg, vacated the office in 2000 when Franschhoek Municipality was incorporated into neighbouring Stellenbosch Municipality. Since then a variety of officials of both Stellenbosch Municipality and Cape Winelands District Municipality have been using the office. After some sprucing up, the tastefully decorated office is now once again fit for a mayor.
Mayor Van Deventer says that having an office here is very important to her. “I needed a professional space where I can work and engage with the community. When I took office I became aware that residents of Franschhoek felt left out and not part of the greater Stellenbosch. In the interest of being accessible to all, and to demonstrate to the residents how important they are to the Municipality, I reopened the Mayoral Office in Franschhoek, so that I can actively engage with the community and address concerns they might raise.”
