Africa-Press – South-Africa. The DA is furious after its candidate for an upcoming by-election in Ennerdale, Gauteng, suddenly withdrew after a meeting with Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie.
Randell “Rara” Markgraaff withdrew his candidacy for Ward 7 in Ennerdale on Friday. The by-election is due to take place on 28 June.
Markgraaff was the DA’s chosen candidate to contest the ward, and his sudden withdrawal has angered the party.
Ward 7 is made up of three communities: Finetown, Ennerdale and Meriting. It is mainly a coloured area.
The ward came up for a by-election in April after the councillor, Amelia Zama, resigned as an ANC member and joined the Patriotic Alliance.
Zama now serves as a councillor for the PA on Gauteng’s West Rand, News24 was told.
In a Facebook post on 16 June, Markgraaff said he was competing in the by-election because he believed in the “betterment of Ennerdale, Finetown and Meriting”.
His withdrawal means the contest is now a two-horse race between the ANC and the Patriotic Alliance.
Other parties, including the EFF and Al Jama-ah, are also contesting, but previous voting trends favour an ANC or PA candidate.
The DA cannot replace Markgraaff as a candidate because the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) closed the submissions deadline on 7 June. The ballot paper has been finalised.
DA campaign manager Nicola du Plessis, who penned an affidavit seen by News24, said Markgraaff had indicated to her last week that Mckenzie had requested a meeting with him through an intermediary.
Ahead of the meeting, Markgraaff had also mentioned to Du Plessis that he knew McKenzie was known to have offered “R5 million with a promised relocation to Cape Town with his wife and daughter”.
Du Plessis said Markgraaff had appeared willing to meet with McKenzie to gauge “how panicked the PA” was about the by-election.
She added that Markgraaff had met with McKenzie and that it had culminated in him withdrawing his candidacy days later. Du Plessis stated this in a sworn statement, a copy of which News24 has obtained.
Still, the DA strongly believes the PA used its political and financial muscle to strongarm a DA candidate from contesting the ward.
‘The community had warmed up to us’
“This person was the person who espoused the DA constitution more than anyone else in his application. He is young and dynamic and has a big footprint in the community. The PA did not realise that we planned to run a candidate of Markgraaff’s calibre,” Du Plessis said.
“After three months of working in this community and ensuring that the community knows us, he has decided to withdraw. The community had warmed up to us. It is problematic because the people suffer.”
Gauteng DA leader Solly Msimanga said his party was weighing its options for justice.
“The withdrawal also comes after significant investment in the candidate and the by-election campaign. The candidate was enthusiastic about running for the DA in the ward until shortly before his meeting with McKenzie. At this point, his attitude changed,” he said.
“This shocking development raises serious questions about the integrity of the electoral process and the extent to which ‘mafia tactics’ may even undermine the country’s ability to hold free and fair elections. We are currently engaging with the IEC to determine the best course of action in response to this matter.”
Election monitoring expert Wayne Sussman said the withdrawal of a candidate a week before an election was unprecedented.
“The DA was in a weaker position in this ward, but what has happened here is unprecedented. This is great news for the PA, but I hope this does not start a trend in South Africa where a party selects candidates and they switch sides. It creates a lot of instability. The DA will stay on the ballot, but this significantly impacts the election,” he told News24.
Sussman said he had expected the DA to finish third in this by-election, but the political movements ahead of the vote could change that.
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