DA insiders accuse leadership of imposing former ANC councillors in eThekwini ahead of elections

Discontent is rising inside the Democratic Alliance’s eThekwini structures after party insiders told IOL that leadership has been imposing former ANC councillors as ward candidates, overriding local community preferences as the party seeks to blunt the electoral threat posed by the MK party.

Insiders say communities were bypassed

Several DA members speaking to IOL accused party leadership of using the MK party as justification to install candidates whom communities do not want. One insider criticised the party’s approach to candidate selection, saying the DA was effectively using fear of a worse alternative as leverage.

“The DA is using the threat of MK as justification to override what communities actually want like installing a former ANC councillor as our candidate in one ward, or imposing a different, unwanted candidate in another. By using the threat of a worse alternative as leverage, the DA is behaving no differently from the ANC,” one irate insider told IOL.

All who spoke to IOL asked not to be named, citing fears of reprisals from the party.

Accusations of opportunism on service issues

Another insider questioned the timing of the party’s emphasis on service delivery, saying communities that have lacked water for years saw no DA engagement until the election campaign began.

“Why now? Why is the DA making water a priority now? There are communities that have been without water for years, and no DA member has visited them or taken up their cause. Now that it’s election time, they want to run around as if they have the answers to every problem. I’m gatvol of their hypocrisy.”

Specific complaints over a Ward 16 candidate

One DA insider singled out the party’s decision to make a former ANC councillor its candidate in Ward 16, saying the man had been a poor performer and was unpopular with local residents.

“He came 126th out of 134 candidates that makes him unelectable as a PR councillor. But the DA went ahead and made him the official candidate for Ward 16, despite community anger,” a DA member told IOL.

DA leadership frames defections as a political wave

DA provincial leader Sithembiso Ngema welcomed the influx of former ANC members to the party and described the defections as a large-scale shift.

“We’ve welcomed more than 8,500 new members since we started our campaign last year, with the majority coming from the ANC. This is not a trickle. This is a political earthquake,” Ngema told IOL.

Election context

The conversation comes as parties campaign ahead of the local government elections, with the November 4 deadline referenced in reporting and the MK party described as a significant challenger in KwaZulu-Natal. The DA’s moves to recruit former ANC members and position ward candidates form part of its strategy to counter that challenge, according to the reporting.

What insiders fear

DA members who spoke to IOL said their complaints centre on principle and electability: they object to what they see as top-down imposition of candidates and the rehabilitation of individuals they previously campaigned against. The reporting indicates internal tensions between local activists and provincial leadership over candidate selection and campaign priorities.