Magashule in court as parties fight for councils

While local election campaigning dominates headlines this week, suspended ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule will appear in the high court in Bloemfontein with his co-accused on Tuesday to face 13 charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering related to a R225m asbestos tender awarded while he was Free State premier.

The ANC suspended him pending the outcome of the trial.

As the November 1 election date looms, and it seems more and more likely that the ANC and the DA will lose heavily in the metros, the smaller parties are confident about their chances of being included in coalition governments.

Political commentators agree the elections will mean more coalition governments as campaigning by smaller parties confirms. Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie claims his party is growing fastest and that it will be kingmaker in many municipalities. Pictures of the party’s meetings last week show them to be well-attended.

GOOD secretary-general and Cape Town mayoral candidate Brett Herron says the party is campaigning in all the municipalities it is contesting but is confident that it will win outright or be a member of coalitions in many of them.

GOOD leader Patricia de Lille was campaigning in the Northern Cape and Garden Route last week and this week will be in Cape Town, where Herron says the party stands a good chance, and the Garden Route and Beaufort West in the Western Cape. GOOD will contest all wards in 45 municipalities in five provinces including six metros Cape Town, Tshwane, Johannesburg, eThekwini, Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Bay.

“I am so encouraged by the response on the ground,” Herron says. “There seems to be a loosening among voters of that blind loyalty to the old parties. People are looking back at their track records over the last two decades.”

The Freedom Front Plus is contesting 184 municipalities and 3,158 wards and leader Pieter Groenewald says the party will be kingmakers in four metros Nelson Mandela Bay, Cape Town, Tshwane and Johannesburg and be part of coalitions in about 20 local municipalities. “Very promising” feedback from its campaigning in Tshwane where it lost a lot of voters to the DA in the 2016 local government elections is that it is holding on to its support and winning votes from the DA.

African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) national elections manager Grant Haskin reports a surge of support based on its opposition to mandatory Covid19 vaccination. It is contesting nearly 3,000 wards in 145 municipalities as well as all eight metros with priority attention being given to Cape Town, Nelson Mandela Bay, eThekwini and Johannesburg as well as top 20-30 identified local municipalities where it feels it has a good chance. The party is part of the coalition in Nelson Mandela Bay and was previously in coalitions in Tshwane and Johannesburg. The ACDP says there will probably be coalitions in Cape Town, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay and Johannesburg.

UDM leader Bantu Holomisa says his party is focusing on Johannesburg, where it has been part of the ruling coalition, and on its Eastern Cape stronghold. He says no party will win Nelson Mandela Bay outright and it will be run by a coalition, including the UDM.

“Our structures are optimistic. I am satisfied, given the limited resources we have.”

The National Union of Metalworkers of SA’s strike continues. On Tuesday, the Airports Company SA will release 2020/2021 results.