The DA announced additional mayoral candidates for the Western Cape as part of its expanding team of proven leaders ready to deliver for communities.
Image: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers
Newly-elected DA Federal Leader, Geordin Hill-Lewis, believes coalition governance will be the new norm that parties will have to accept, which is a stark contrast to the approach ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula touted the party having.
Hill-Lewis, speaking on the sidelines of the DA’s announcement of its third tranche of mayoral candidates on Tuesday, said that while it is not something they aim for, there is a very strong likelihood of coalitions in many metros.
Mbalula had shared the ANC’s rigorous new approach to local governance, emphasising that the party is “rolling up (its) sleeves” to intervene directly in municipal performance.
Speaking at a media briefing on Monday, Mbalula touched on the inherent difficulties of governing through coalitions, describing them as environments where “your ego doesn't work” and partners must “sing along” to ensure solid governance.
He pointed to the high turnover of mayors in Johannesburg, referencing past leadership under the DA’s Herman Mashaba and Mpho Phalatse, as well as Thapelo Amad and Kabelo Gwamanda, as evidence of the instability coalitions can create.
“We are not working for coalition governments,” Mbalula emphasised, stating the ANC’s primary goal remains an outright majority win. He criticised smaller parties for rejecting a proposed “threshold” for coalition participation that the ANC and DA had both supported to bring stability to municipal governance.
While acknowledging that the party is seeing the campaign activities of opponents like Helen Zille, Mbalula maintained that the ANC, as an incumbent, is in a constant state of campaigning through its daily governance and accounting to the people.
Hill-Lewis said: “We have to try to maximise our votes and try to get an outright majority, but if you look at the public polling, you’ll see that there is a very strong likelihood of coalition governments in many of the metros in South Africa.
“If I just think now, six of them might not have an outright majority if there were an election today. So our job over the next seven months or so is to get as close as possible to that magic majority number and maximise our vote so that we can have the strongest possible negotiating position when we come to coalition negotiations.”
Hill-Lewis, who is also the current mayor of the City of Cape Town, said that he has not had time to think through what the announcement of his candidacy will look like, given how he had completed the interview process about a month before he was announced as the new party leader.
“I haven't thought through that because, to be honest, I went for my interview, it was about a few weeks, maybe a month before the DA Federal Congress, and I haven't heard the outcome yet.
“Obviously, in the interim, things have changed. I've been elected leader, so I suspect that that is going to have some impact on that. Under the DA's constitution, if you actually look at our constitution, I'm allowed to take up the number one position on the Cape Town list if I would like to, but hopefully I win through the process normally, and I'm sure we'll see that result in the coming weeks.”
Hill-Lewis was joined by DA Federal Chairperson Solly Msimanga, DA Western Cape Leader Tertuis Simmers, and DA Western Cape Chairperson Jaco Londt, who announced the candidates for several more Western Cape municipalities.
“These are all municipalities which are already DA-run governments, and the DA fields carefully selected candidates to ensure continuity of excellent governance. The DA now charges our mayoral candidates to deliver to the highest standards, and to go further to improve lives and improve delivery where they lead,” Simmers said.
“With the local government elections approaching, the DA will fight tirelessly to ensure that every South African gets the services they deserve, under a DA-led government.”
Hill-Lewis added that he believes that they have a fantastic batch of candidates and that they have a strong campaign.
“They are DA superstars, and we have an opposition that has no fresh ideas for how to fix these cities. They've run them into the ground, and now they're expecting voters to trust them, to turn them around. I don't think that's gonna happen.
“At this point, I'm confident, but of course, we still need everyone to turn out; we need everyone to unite behind the DA as much as possible so that we can get as close to that majority number as possible,” Hill-Lewis said.