While Cape Town Mayor Geordin-Hill Lewis maintains his intent on running for a second term as mayor, the DA is still finalising their internal processes, with interviews still underway, and expected to be completed by next Monday.
Hill-Lewis, who has been previously touted as the heir apparent by a former DA leader, announced his candidacy for party leader at the end of February after the current leader, John Steenhuisen, announced that he would not be seeking re-election.
“Geordin Hill-Lewis has always been the heir to the throne and was groomed for this by Helen. Anyone who contests him is going to lose badly. The position already has his name on it,” a former leader said.
In a media interview on Sunday, Hill-Lewis explained that he would not want a cabinet post in the Government of National Unity (GNU), and he also elaborated on his decision in wanting to retain the mayoral chain.
“I must be able to stand firm and point out when the DA truly disagrees with something and be straightforward when we run a campaign against those things on which we strongly disagree. Of course, our Cabinet members can do this, but there are some obvious practical constraints,” Hill-Lewis said.
However, while Hill-Lewis is expected to be announced as the party’s mayoral candidate for the City of Cape Town, DA Western Cape Chairperson, Jaco Londt, said they have finalised interviews and are just completing internal box-ticking processes before public announcements are made.
Londt was speaking on the sidelines of the second batch of the DA’s Western Cape mayoral candidates for the upcoming local government elections.
“For the City of Cape Town and Stellenbosch, the internal interviews have been concluded. Stellenbosch took place over this weekend, and then we still have one or two steps to follow internally when it’s signed off by the federal executive. Then we start planning for the external announcement.
“But by next Monday, all 30 mayoral interviews will be concluded for all the Western Cape municipalities. I think by the end of today, 24 of the 30 will be concluded,” Londt said.
“Next week, there should be six, and then once we have ticked off all the boxes based on our nomination regulations, we will then be announcing the candidates externally.”
DA Western Cape Leader, Tertuis Simmers, introduced the second group of candidates on Monday morning, saying that they are “ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work”.
The Mayoral Candidates announced today are: Breede Valley – Koos Steyn, Cederberg – Yves Blaauw, Mossel Bay – Dirk Kotzé, Saldanha Bay – Marius Koen, Swellendam – Dr Jacques Du Toit, and West Coast District – Roelof ‘Boffie’ Strydom.
“In municipalities where we do not yet govern, these candidates offer residents a real chance to get the municipalities working. In municipalities where we do govern, these candidates will bolster and build on our proven record of service delivery.
“Backed by multiple clean audit reports and governance accolades, the DA is the only party capable of creating jobs, providing basic services, rooting out corruption and safeguarding communities,” Simmers said.
“These candidates are fully endorsed by the party, and they are ready to connect with residents and deliver our offer of hope.”
Londt, who is also the party’s election campaign manager for the province, said that they have been aware of reactions to the first batch of announcements and are dealing with the scope of reactions.
“There’s going to be some people that question, and there may be some unhappiness, and it’s about managing that. But that’s also gonna be a testimony to each of the individuals that we’ve announced and how they managed that.
“We’ve had that in some of the towns, but we are dealing with that. I’ve seen some of the visions coming in, the pledges coming in, and we’re busy panel-beating that, and then we’ll start rolling it out in each of the municipalities,” Londt said.
“The mayoral launches will occur locally, if all goes according to plan, in April/May, and then we’ll be rolling that out in each of the municipalities.
“It’s exciting because we have some really experienced individuals. Experienced mayoral candidates who are now moving into a different space, taking those learnings and experiences from (Category) B municipalities to the (Category) C municipalities, maybe also understanding the challenges, and that there might be a need for the collaborative approach, but this is the one province where that actually works.
“Now we need to just take it up to the next level and hold that up as an example for the rest of the country to follow,” Londt said.
Theolin Tembo
iol.co.za