After the 2000 election, Willie Smuts, previously mayor of Hangklip-Kleinmond Municipality, was elected mayor, representing the Democratic Alliance (DA), before he defected along with seven other DA councillors to the New National Party (NNP) after the October 2002 floor-crossing window. The NNP then formed a coalition with the African National Congress (ANC) when the council was reconstituted. After the September 2004 floor crossing Smuts then crossed the floor to the ANC along with most NNP councillors which gave the ANC an outright majority in the town for the first time.