DA welcomes PA councillor to the fold in Cape Town

1 March 2023

Note to Editors: Please find soundbite here and photos here, here and here

The DA today welcomed Patriotic Alliance (PA) councillor in the City of Cape Town, Aslam Richards, to the fold.

Richard has submitted his letter of resignation today as councillor in the City of Cape Town and member of the PA.

At the briefing today, Richard expressed his disillusionment with the PA who ‘treats their public representatives like dirt’, who’s culture is entrenched in fear and intimidation, and who has become an ardent supporter of the ANC, helping them directly to get into power at several local governments across the country, betraying their voters.

DA Provincial Leader in the Western Cape, Tertuis Simmers, has welcomed Richard to the DA. Simmers thanked Richard for showing the courage to stand up today and join a party with a proven track record in changing people’s lives where it governs.

DA Provincial Deputy Leader, JP Smith, called on other disillusioned members of the PA to also raise their voices and stand up against a party that does not share their values.

We are encouraged to see that not only voters, but also members of smaller parties, understand that the DA is the strongest opposition against the ANC and that uniting behind the DA is the only way to remove the ANC from government in the upcoming national elections in 2024.

Text of the letter:

Official Letter of Resignation

1, Councillor Aslam Richards, hereby wish to formally submit my letter of resignation as a Councillor and member of the PA. 1 wish to thank those who have supported me, and guided mein taking this decision.

1 will continue to serve the people, however I can no langer do so under the banner of the PA, and can no langer be part of the Patriotic Alliance for the following reasons:

1. The PA puts the ANC in power when it suits them personally

When the PA was campaigning it campaigned in the name of God and claiming strong religious and moral values. As a member and councillor of the PA I have been in communities telling them of the evils of the ANC and how the ANC is destroying communities and destroying South Africa. Every day we see the disaster of loadshedding making life impossible for poor people.

Yet, twice in a row now, 1 have had to watch the PA hand councils back to the ANC for the sake of a position or a fight with the DA, where new coalitions had previously managed to remove the ANC from power.

The PA is just being the ANC in camouflage and is taking the vote given to it by voters who trust them to oppose the ANC and create a better government and a better future and using that vote to put the ANC back in power. This is betraying the trust voters have put in us and it makes it impossible for voters where I work in the Cape Flats to trust me as a PA councillor.

2. The PA treats its public representatives like dirt

As a Councillor I have had no support from the Party or the leadership to assist me with any of the projects I have implemented in communities thus far.

The hard working PA Councillors in the Western Cape never gets recognition for the extremely good work they have been doing for the party. The party gives no resources and the leadership gives no support to the communities in the Western Cape.

The leadership portray the PA tobe invested in on the ground upliftment of communities, but this is only a campaign for purposes of media and publicity.

3. The PA culture is driven by fear

Whenever the President of the Patriotic Alliance goes onto Facebook live he threatens PA Councillors. He fires his Councillors on Facebook live with no procedure, no systems in the party. Everything depends on the whims of the leader.

President of the PA goes onto Facebook live the Councillors feel threatened because they don't know if they will be fired. Recently a Councillor was humiliated and fired just before Christmas on Facebook live in front of his family and friends. This is not sustainable and no party can build unity and strength and move to become a government if it has no internal systems.

The Party brought a Candidate from JHB tobe the Premier candidate for the Western Cape for the 2024 Provincial and National election. 1 believe that we have capable leaders in the Western Cape for this role. The Premier Candidate has also been made Mayor in Beaufort West, where we have hard working capable members that have an in-depth understanding of the Western Cape.

The hard working Councillors in the Western Cape never gets recognition for the extremely good work they have been doing for the party. The party gives no resources and the leadership gives no support to the communities in the Western Cape.

The PA has no formal party processes. Members aren't duly informed or consulted about anything within the organisation, and are instead intimated and issued instructions by one individual alone being Gayton McKenzie. 1 don't believe this is an environment that can grow and become a positive agent for change and meaningfully govern.

The PA often publically celebrates how many new members the party is attracting and recruiting, but there are far bigger numbers leaving the PA because of fear.

1 have for the past year tried my utmost best to get the party to financially support the Western Cape, to build our communities where it is needed most. 1 have come to the realization that the Party will never support the Western Cape the way it deserves to be supported, and will falsely claim to care, while it will only exploit the people of the Western Cape for political gain at all costs even if it means empowering or governing with the ANC.

This brings me to my last reason for leaving the PA.

4.  I believe the PA is a threat to a thriving SA

As we have seen in municipalities in other parts of the country including herein the Western Cape, the PA has facilitated putting the ANC back into power, when it suits them personally. We all know through the recent State Capture Report, the ANC has for decades governed with the purpose of accessing state resources for personal gain.

Any party who enables the ANC back into power, is not only supporting this continuous looting of public funds but surely empowering this, and destroys any hope for a prosperous South Africa.

1 joined politics because I wanted to make a difference and build the communities I care about. lt is becoming harder and harder to see how I could achieve that in the PA. I have become disillusioned to the paint where I can na langer be a part af a party I cannot respect and which I cannat see as my harne.

Warking in Cauncil this last year I have came to believe that the DA is the best vehicle for someane wanting ta develap their community and make a difference.

For this reason I am resigning from the PA and jaining the DA in Cape Tawn taday. Regards

Cllr Aslam Richards

ENDS

Issued by Dan Plato, DA Metro Chairperson, Western Cape, 1 March 2023