eThekwini by-election: DA battles to keep control of Ward 64

With voting under way in eThekwini’s Ward 64 by-election on Wednesday, the DA has deployed its big guns in a final push to retain the ward.

On Wednesday morning, the provincial party leader, Francois Rogers, accompanied by other senior leaders, visited all the voting stations, interacting with the people.

Rogers stopped at one of the four largest stations, Yellow Wood Park Hall, which has over 5,000 registered voters.

Speaking to the media, Rogers said his party would retain the ward, stating that it was important for the people of the city to have more party councillors to ensure there is service delivery for the people.

He further stated that the DA wants to be the biggest coalition partner in the city after next year’s local government elections, so it was important to keep momentum by retaining its ward.

“We are going to retain our ward. It is important in a municipality like eThekwini, which lacks service delivery. The DA wants to lead a coalition in the city after next year’s local elections,” said Rogers.

However, he acknowledged that the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) will give his party a run for its money, stating that the MKP would be the second biggest party after the DA in terms of votes garnered in the by-elections.

In the political contest, the DA nominated Norma Gilbert, and the MKP put forward Stanley Dlamini. The ANC is relying on Babongile Nqashi, while the EFF’s candidate is Stephen Gwala. Making its debut in this election, Rise Mzansi dispatched Jacquelene Goncalves to compete.

Nkosenhle Madlala, an ANC eThekwini regional task team member, expressed confidence in achieving positive results in the by-election. He highlighted the party’s success in diminishing the DA’s influence in the 2021 elections and is optimistic about further improvements.

EFF eThekwini leader and the chairperson of Municipal Public Accounts Committee, Thami Xuma, said his party has noticed that it does well in the middle-class communities.

Rise Mzansi’s Goncalves said she is very popular with the Ward 64 community, which is why her party encouraged her to throw her hat in the ring for the first time.

The ward is one of the biggest in eThekwini with more than 20,000 registered voters. The ward, which includes Montclair, parts of Clairwood, and Yellowwood Park, south of Durban, is contested after the resignation of the DA councillor who transitioned into business, as stated by his party.

Over time, the ward’s demographics have shifted, partly due to the influx of students from tertiary institutions. Additionally, several informal settlements exist, along with the recent relocation of flood victims to a R33 million flat purchased by KwaZulu-Natal Human Settlements.

This move was perceived as an ANC strategy to diversify the ward’s population and diminish the DA’s influence.

willem.phungula@inl.co.za