‘When the DA wins ward 4 on Wednesday, 14 September 2022, we will govern the Prince Albert Municipality outright,” said DA Western Cape interim leader Tertuis Simmers about the upcoming by-election in the central Karoo region. Failure will confirm the party’s role as opposition in three municipalities in the region. 

The ward came up for a by-election following the termination of ward councillor Margy Jaftha’s membership of her political home, the Karoo Gemeenskap Party (KGP). The party, based in the Karoo, received two of seven seats, following the 2021 municipal elections — enough to position itself into a governing coalition with the African National Congress (ANC) and Patriotic Alliance (PA). 

The DA held three of the seven seats in the council against the four held by the coalition.

However, during a July council sitting, Jaftha would vote against her own party — for a DA deputy mayor and speaker. However, there was controversy around this as the ANC claimed Jaftha could not represent the KGP as her membership had been terminated, reported Cape Argus. 

After confirmation of Jaftha’s expulsion from her party, a by-election was called in the Karoo municipality.

Now, Jaftha will contest the ward again, this time under the DA banner. 

“Our candidate, Margy Jaftha, is born and bred in Prince Albert; she knows this community and she has their interest at heart,” said Simmers. 

“We are confident that she will bring the DA difference, which speaks of good governance and excellent service delivery, to ward 4,” he told Daily Maverick on Monday afternoon and added: “We believe the hard work we have done over the last few months, together with Margy who led from the front, will take us over the finish line come Wednesday evening”. 

Four-way fight

The ward is contested by Jaftha, Edward Leonard Hattingh from the Africa Restoration Alliance (ARA), Johnny Peter Hendricks of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF); and Goliath Lottering from the KGP.

If Jaftha and the DA win the ward, it would gain a fourth seat, becoming the majority party, allowing it to govern outright.

All the focus of the by-election is on the battle between Jaftha and her former political colleague, Lottering.

Daily Maverick elections analyst Wayne Sussman said while the Central Karoo might “have just more than 1.5% of the entire voter base in the Western Cape, political contestation is always high”. He explained that the DA, the provincial governing party, was most vulnerable in this region. 

“If the DA is unable to take this seat from the KGP, they will fill the opposition benches in all three Karoo municipalities”, Sussman said in reference to the municipalities of Laingsburg and Beaufort West, where the party sits on opposition benches.

“A DA win will motivate their activists and base and allow them to have an alternative in Prince Albert to the ANC/PA/local party coalitions in the rest of the Karoo,” said Sussman.

DA brings big guns, but ANC abandons contest

The DA brought big guns to this campaign: the party’s Prince Albert Facebook page shows visits by high-ranking provincial members including DA interim leader Tertuis Simmers, provincial cabinet members Anton Bredell (MEC for Local Government) and Anroux Marais (MEC for Cultural Affairs and Sport). On Monday, a motorcade featured Western Cape Premier Alan Winde and DA Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille.

But this by-election is missing a big name. The ANC did not field a candidate. The party’s provincial structures did not respond to questions on why no candidate was fielded. 

KGP and ANC coalition partner the PA also did not field a candidate. During his 100-day celebration as Central Karoo District Municipality mayor in July, PA president Gayton McKenzie said the party had given its word it would vote for a KGP candidate, despite calls for the party to field its own candidate.

“A man’s word is his bond, so whether we lose this by-election, we will keep our word that we as the PA will not field a candidate,” said McKenzie. 

“Here the ANC and PA showed maturity to stand aside and get behind the KGP,” said Sussman, who added:

“A win here for the KGP will not just be great for the KGP, but good for its coalition partners as well — a hold (a seat) for the KGP will also show that local parties like KGP have the tools to continue to beat the DA in rural areas”.

Currently, the PA and ANC have coalitions right through the Karoo region, with smaller parties such as the KGP and Karoo Democratic Force (KDF) governing in the Central Karoo region, including in local municipalities such as Beaufort West, Laingsburg and Prince Albert. DM