DA KwaZulu-Natal leader Sithembiso Ngema and the party's Durban North constituency head, Tim Brauteseth, welcomed new members who claimed to be from the ANC.
Image: Supplied
Newly elected DA provincial leader, Sithembiso Ngema, and the party’s eThekwini Municipality mayoral candidate, Haniff Hoosen, handed out party T-shirts to new members on Saturday in a bid to take over the city’s governance.
The party welcomed new members, who claimed to have abandoned their opponents for a new political home, at an event held at Ward 11 in Newlands West, north of Durban.
The ward falls under DA councillor Allan Petersen.
Ngema told the newcomers that they are now part of something better than what they were in before.
“It is because the councillor (Petersen), whom you voted for, did not relocate to Umhlanga.
“Have you ever seen a councillor who, after being voted by the people with the hope that he would be a bridge between them and the municipality, just relocate to a DA ward?
“You might as well vote for the DA since your councillor moved to a DA ward,” said Ngema.
DA provincial leader Sithembiso Ngema, the party's Durban North constituency head, Tim Brauteseth, and the party's eThekwini Municipality mayoral candidate Haniff Hoosen welcome new members.
Image: Supplied
He called on them to make sure that their decision to join the DA translates to the changes in the eThekwini council leadership, which he said was full of corruption.
“They are rotten, because if you are doing wrong things that violate people’s lives, you are rotten. They will soon reap the pain of not giving you jobs, houses, water, and electricity, but only providing for their friends. I don’t want to talk about tenders because owners of tenders in eThekwini are known.
“When it comes to the EPWP (Expanded Public Works Programme), they first demand that you produce a political party membership card and when you produce it, it also depends on who is the party chairperson in charge, and there is a long list of people close to a councillor and long list of criminals who are working for the government but who also get the EPWP and long list of ghost workers who are paid through the EPWP,” said Ngema.
They handed the T-shirts to people who wore them over the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, ANC, IFP, and EFF T-shirts, while the onlooking crowd shouted “viva DA, viva” and “down with the liars”.
Ngema said the newcomers came from various political parties, who joined the DA out of frustration with the municipality that is failing to deliver services.
“They showed us a disaster project, which they said they never got an update on what is happening with it, and they said they had repeatedly visited the municipality to get help without success.
“They also complained that their children do not have a park to play in, and they play in a traffic circle, and some of the children end up being run over by cars. They said they want to see changes in the eThekwini Municipality, which is why they decided to join the DA today,” said Ngema.
The party also announced that on Monday, it will fly its first 2026 election campaign poster ahead of the Voter Registration weekend.
“The flight event will launch the DA’s slogan and our call to action for the Voter Registration Campaign.
“In the upcoming Local Government Elections in November 2026, South Africans can only vote where registered, and if they are registered, and therefore correct voter registration is critically important,” it reminded voters.
The party said the DA’s poster-flying event will be led by Ngema and uMngeni Municipality Mayor Chris Pappas.
bongani.hans@inl.co.za