New members of the Western Cape legislature will be sworn into office on Thursday. Among them will be the Democratic Alliance's Memory Booysen, the controversial former Garden Route mayor.

On Thursday 13 June, Memory Booysen will be among 42 members of the Western Cape legislature taking their oath of office. The former mayor of the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) leaves behind a complicated legacy and faces criticism for his defence of a municipal manager implicated in fraudulent property transfers worth more than R60-million.

As the DA's 24th candidate on its Western Cape list, Booysen will become a member of the provincial legislature as the party secured 24 seats following the general elections. Booysen resigned as mayor and councillor of the municipality on 8 June.

Despite praise from within his party, his defence of a municipal manager who was charged with fraud and forgery over property transactions between the Garden Route District Municipality and the Knysna Municipality continues to draw criticism.

The Garden Route District Municipality covers local municipalities such as George, Knysna, Mossel Bay, Hessequa, Kannaland, Oudtshoorn and Booysen's hometown of Bitou.

Who is Memory Booysen?

Booysen, a resident of Plettenberg Bay, worked in the private sector before becoming involved in politics. After 1994, he was a councillor for the ANC but was expelled. After a brief flirtation with Cope, he joined the DA. He became Bitou's...