By-election victories confirm that voters trust the DA to lead coalitions

4 August 2022

Yesterday the DA won two crucial by-elections in municipalities where we are at the helm of coalition governments, and where much work still needs to be done to overturn the ANC’s legacy of corruption and ineptitude.

In both elections, held in Limpopo and Gauteng, voters decided to unite behind the DA instead of dividing the opposition vote against the ANC.

In Modimolle Mookgopong, the DA retained ward 12 with more than two thirds of the vote. Wiets Botes, a former independent candidate, will now take up his seat as a DA councillor.

His election will help mayor Marlene van Staden and her minority coalition to keep making progress in the face of enormous governance and service delivery challenges.

In ward 42 in Tshwane the DA’s share of the vote grew from 73,6% to 77,6%. Shane Maas, who has been a proportional representative councillor since 2011, takes the place of the late Phillip Nel in representing Waterkloof, Monument Park and Erasmusrand.

Above all, these victories confirm that voters trust the DA as the leader of coalition governments in a post-ANC South Africa.

When it comes to building an alternative government that can withstand attack by the ANC and EFF, there is little sense in subdividing the opposition vote.

The DA is the only party with the support of a broad cross-section of South Africans, and a track record of getting things done in government.

These crucial victories not only consolidate the DA’s position in Tshwane and Modimolle Mookgopong, but give a boost to our momentum in the 2024 general election.

Issued by Cilliers Brink, DA Spokesperson, 4 August 2022