Pretoria - A solid election campaign that lasted for 335 days was what it took for the DA to win the hearts and souls of the people of Tshwane.
Motheo Mtimkulu, spokesman for the DA’s mayor-elect Solly Msimanga, said this was how the party took Wednesday’s local government election in the capital.
The DA got 43.11% of the vote, effectively dethroning the ANC which had held the majority before the election, but trailed with 41.22%.
In September last year, before the media was even concerned about the election campaigns, Msimanga was already on the ground, preaching the message of change, Mtimkulu told the Pretoria News.
At the heart of Msimanga’s campaign was a message that talked to the bread-and-butter issues such as jobs, water, houses and electricity.
To outperform the ANC, Mtimkulu said, the DA ran a strong campaign with a key message that it could change the lives of the people for the better.
The DA also capitalised on the ANC’s internal political battles which saw people in the capital rebelling against the decision of the party’s national executive to parachute in mayoral candidate Thoko Didiza as the face of its election campaign when the rivalry between outgoing mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa and his rival Mapiti Matsena could not be resolved.
“How the tables have turned for the ANC demonstrates the point that the ANC is disrespecting the electorate,” Mtimkulu said.
The DA’s success in getting more votes than the ANC in the capital city was a sign that the party had paved the way to winning Gauteng from the ANC in the 2019 national and provincial elections, he added.
The results of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on the local government elections showed that the ANC took a knock from 59.66% of the votes in 2011 to 45.85% in municipalities across Gauteng this time.
Mtimkulu said that while the DA’s “vote for change” election campaign was in full swing, the ANC had tried without success to reduce it to a race issue.
Regarding the comment by ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, attributing the ANC’s dismal showing to the poor turnout of black people at voting stations, Mtimkulu said that statement proved the demise of the ANC.
The DA’s internal projections showed that most people from the townships had voted in favour of the opposition, he said.
Although the DA triumphed, it has not achieved the threshold required to govern the city without entering into a coalition with one or more of the other parties that won seats.
Political analyst Professor Tinyiko Maluleka of the University of Pretoria, said: “Technically, you can have a minority administration, but that would mean that every little decision you make, you must lobby for support from other parties.”
Mtimkulu said the DA had initiated talks of a coalition with the EFF which won 11.7% of votes in Tshwane, making it a viable kingmaker. Coalition talks, Mtimkulu said, were driven by local government issues rather than the national agenda, on which the parties have very different policies.
Issues on the table at the negotiations which are being spearheaded by party leaders at national level, are derived from their municipal elections manifestos.
According to Mtimkulu, the manifestos addressed basic issues such as clean drinking water, proper sanitation, electricity and housing.
“We had a marathon meeting on Saturday which ended at 2am on Sunday (yesterday). The negotiations are progressing very well,” he said.
Mtimkulu said the DA hoped to make an announcement with regard to Tshwane early next week, taking into account that it now had 13 days to host a council meeting to elect the council speaker and the mayor. The law provides for 14 days from the day of the election results are declared - which was Saturday.
FIGURES PER PARTY
DA: 43.1%; 93 seats
ANC: 41.22%; 89 seats
EFF: 11.7%; 25 seats
FF+: 1.99%; 4 seats
ACDP, COPE, PAC: 1 seat
Pretoria News