Campaigning for the local government elections will continue to dominate headlines this week but apart from this, suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule will appear in the high court in Bloemfontein with his co-accused on Tuesday to face 13 charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering related to a R225m asbestos tender awarded while he was premier of Free State.
Magashule was suspended by the ANC pending the outcome of the trial.
As the November 1 election date draws near and it appears more and more likely that the two big parties — the ANC and the DA — will lose heavily in the metros, the smaller parties are confident about their chances of being included in coalition governments.
There is widespread agreement among political commentators that the elections will usher in more coalition governments and this is something which the campaigning by smaller parties has confirmed. Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie claims that his party is the fastest-growing in the country and that it will be the kingmaker in many municipalities. Pictures of the party’s election meetings last week show them to be well-attended.
GOOD’s secretary-general and Cape Town mayoral candidate Brett Herron says the party is continuing with its campaigning in all the municipalities it is contesting but is confident that it will either win outright or be a member of coalitions in many of them. GOOD leader Patricia de Lille was campaigning in the Northern Cape and Garden Route last week and this week will be in Cape Town where Herron says the party stands a good chance as well as in other towns along the Garden Route and Beaufort West in the Western Cape. GOOD will contest all wards in 45 municipalities in five provinces including six metros — Cape Town, Tshwane, Johannesburg, eThekwini, Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Bay.
“I am so encouraged by the response on the ground,” Herron says. “There seems to be a loosening among voters of that blind loyalty to the old parties. People are looking back at their track records over the last two decades.”
The Freedom Front Plus is contesting 184 municipalities and 3,158 wards and leader Pieter Groenewald believes the party will be kingmakers in four metros — Nelson Mandela Bay, Cape Town, Tshwane and Johannesburg — and will form part of coalitions in about 20 other local municipalities. The “very promising” feedback from its campaigning in Tshwane where it lost a lot of voters to the DA in the 2016 local government elections is that it is holding on to its support and even winning votes from the DA.
African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) national elections manager Grant Haskin reports a surge of support for the party based particularly on its opposition to mandatory Covid-19 vaccination to gain access to work, public events and municipal services. It is contesting just under 3,000 wards in 145 municipalities as well as all eight metros with priority attention being given to Cape Town, Nelson Mandela Bay, eThekwini and Johannesburg as well as top 20-30 identified local municipalities where it feels it has a good chance. The party is part of the coalition in Nelson Mandela Bay and was previously in coalitions in Tshwane and Johannesburg. The ACDP believes there will probably be coalitions in Cape Town, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay and Johannesburg.
UDM leader Bantu Holomisa says his party is focusing on Johannesburg where it has been part of the ruling coalition and on its stronghold in the Eastern Cape. He has no doubt that no party will win Nelson Mandela Bay outright and that it will be governed by a coalition, including the UDM. “Our structures are optimistic. I am satisfied given the limited resources we have,” Holomisa said.
The National Union of Metalworkers of SA’s strike in the metals and engineering sector will continue and on Tuesday the Airports Company SA will release its 2020/2021 financial results.
ensorl@businesslive.co.za
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