Africa-Press – South-Africa. Despite a “dishonest campaign” from Herman Mashaba’s ActionSA, the DA outclassed the party during by-elections on Wednesday, according to the DA’s national spokesperson, Cilliers Brink.
“The DA still received more votes than its two closest rivals (ActionSA and the Freedom Front Plus) combined, despite the by-election being triggered by the resignation of then-DA ward councillor, Hannes Coetzee,” he said.
Brink believes ActionSA “induced” Coetzee to do so.
“Shortly before his resignation, Coetzee had lost his job as a council committee chairman. ActionSA then offered another DA politician, Michael Shackleton, a full-time position as an in-house legal adviser. His defection was announced with some fanfare last week.”
“As part of the ActionSA by-election campaign, Shackleton – who claims to be a resident of Ward 96 – was put to work, attacking the DA’s service delivery record in the ward. Ironically, ActionSA’s Hannes Coetzee had been the councillor for the same ward since 2011. If the irony wasn’t lost on ActionSA, it was wilfully ignored.”
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The DA said ActionSA’s campaign was “dishonest”, and added that the claimed deception “reached its climax when ActionSA shared a video of Shackleton on social media in which he claims to have voted in the Ward 96 by-election ‘in solidarity’ with Coetzee”.
Brink said this statement “later turned out to be a lie as Shackleton did not vote in the by-election”.
“His name didn’t even appear on the voters’ roll. Did ActionSA think it could get away with the lie?”
Last week, Shackleton, who was the DA’s North Gauteng deputy chairperson, announced in a video message that he had resigned from the DA to join ActionSA.
He cited “the regression of the DA as an inclusive home for all South Africans and its abandonment of being an electoral alternative to the ANC” as motivating factors.
Shackleton, who said he was a resident of Ward 96 in Tshwane, where a by-election would be taking place on Wednesday, said: “One of the reasons why I resigned is because of how the DA has treated our community (Ward 96) since 2016 and now in this by-election.”
“After all, how can you be part of a party that mistreats [the] community where you live? I have witnessed how the DA did nothing to support the previous councillor, Hannes Coetzee. I have witnessed how the DA did nothing to support his calls to investigate the corruption of the tender for the Rooiwal Treatment Plant.”
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Brink rubbished the claims, saying they were nothing but an attempt by ActionSA to eat into the DA voter base and destabilise the coalition in Tshwane.
Speaking to News24 on Thursday morning, ActionSA’s national chairperson, Michael Beaumont, said the premise of the DA’s claims against his party stems from “a hypocritical belief that the suburban votes in SA belong to them”.
Beaumont said:
He added that the reality was that “the DA is in decline in all the voter markets, even in suburban voters”.
“If they are losing voters in the manner in which they are then that is something that the DA should introspect on and the reality is that the DA can not introspect.”
Beaumont also said that it was untrue that his party was only eating into the DA voter base as ActionSA was growing across all voter markets.
“ActionSA is eagerly awaiting the 1 June by-elections taking place in Ward 53, Soweto, Johannsburg as a further demonstration of how our party can appeal to all communities. in the Novemner 2021 local government elections, ActionSA registered a 21% support across Soweto,” he said.
Brink was however adamant ActionSA’s tactics were underhanded and cautioned: “Counting the cost of its defeat, ActionSA must decide whether splitting the opposition vote is the best use of its resources.”
“Judging by the time, money, and attention the party poured into the Ward 96 by-election, Herman Mashaba and his people fully expected to win the ward,” Brink said.
The DA’s Gauteng leader, Solly Msimanga, welcomed the by-election victory and said it was a convincing win and a “vote of confidence for the DA”.
The DA clinched 44.89% of the vote, nearly 25% more than the nearest candidate.
DA candidate Gé Breytenbach will be the new ward councillor.
Msimanga warned that while “many smaller parties had competitive campaigns, and while they did not succeed”, he hoped they would “continue to rally behind their new ward councillor with the same energy, and work together in the best interests of the residents”.
During the by-elections in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, and the North West, the ANC retained two seats, the DA retained one seat, and the EFF won one seat.
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Siteketiso Mathumbu became the new councillor for the ANC in Ward 11, in the Ntabankulu municipality.
The party retained the seat won in the 2021 municipal elections by 78.75% of the total votes cast, compared to 83.20% during the 2021 municipal elections.
Voter turnout on Wednesday was 42.40%.
Mzimkulu Morris Ngabase also became an ANC councillor in Ward 20 in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality after the party retained the seat won in the 2021 municipal elections.
EFF candidate Dedrick Mbali Phetha won in Ward 55 in the Mahikeng municipality, unseating the ANC.
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