The Democratic Alliance (DA) said it was confident that it would retain its power in Cape Town, while gaining control of two Gauteng metros when parties battle it out in the major city battlegrounds in November.
The DA said it was looking to wrest control of the Johannesburg and Tshwane metros, which are currently governed through coalitions led by mayors from the African National Congress (ANC) and ActionSA respectively.
The party made the vow during this weekend’s voter registration drive, which showed a big surge in the registration of party supporters.
The metros of Tshwane, Johannesburg, and Cape Town are expected to be key battlegrounds as all parties target the swing vote and the undecided.
Nelson Mandela Bay, one of two Eastern Cape metros, will also be hotly contested after years of coalition instability.
While the City of Cape Town has been under a DA majority for two decades, the other metros have been struggling with coalitions since the last election.
DA campaign manager Ashor Sarupen said that their internal polling showed that an outright win was feasible in Cape Town, despite the growth of parties like ActionSA and the Patriotic Alliance (PA).
Sarupen said, “Provided every single DA supporter in Cape Town pitches up to vote, I don’t think we will have a problem. We just need to turn out our supporters. We know from our polling and market research that a majority of the citizens of Cape Town support us.”
Sarupen said their campaign efforts would help the party’s trajectory in the two Gauteng metros.
He added, “In Johannesburg and Tshwane, we have identified enough unregistered voters on the ground over the last few months to lead us on a pathway to victory.”
While some metros are considered ANC traditional strongholds, like Buffalo City and Mangaung, the change in voter dynamics could count against the party at the November polls.
Sarupen also pointed out that they had registered more supporters than the ANC in 66 councils across the country.
“This means that in these municipalities, more DA supporters are being added to the voters’ roll than ANC supporters, making the swing vote in the November election far stronger,” said Sarupen.
Babalo Ndenze
www.ewn.co.za
