ISSUE 245 - FREE
18
OCTOBER 2019
COMMUNITY NEWS. ORIGINAL - ACCURATE - FIRST
017 631 1903 / 017 631 1845 • admin@thebulletin.co.za • 1 Kiewiet Street, Secunda (Lake Umuzi)
ANC wins ward from DA we are disappointed in the result of the byelection, it is more than disappointment, it is a concern. As a party the DA has always seen ourselves as a party able to unite communities on the base of our needs for services which should be provided by government. We are still of the firm opinion that
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n a hotly contested by-election on Wednesday, 9 October, the ANC managed to win ward 28 back from the DA. The Bulletin wrote in last week’s edition that the two smaller parties must create miracles to be able to topple the two bigger parties. This was nearly achieved by the good showing of the FF+. The FF+ came very close to winning the ward but in the end only succeeded to hand the ward back to the ANC. Only a handful of votes was needed to secure the ward. Unfortunately, the rivalry between the FF+ and the DA only resulted in securing the ward for the ANC. Low voter turnouts, especially in the voting station in Emzinoni, MD Coovadia, hampered the performance of both the DA and the ANC. Mostly the ANC as this is their voter base. The turnout was 38,4% at Laerskool Marietjie van Niekerk and at MD Coovadia it was 29.5%. There were several reasons stated by the voters for the huge surge towards the FF+ in Bethal. According to the voters some of the reasons were the statements made by Mmusi Maimane in his public speeches, other stated the growing concern of the repatriation of land and some also stated the poor performance of the previous DA councillor in ward 28. The Bulletin asked the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) for their commentary on their excellent performance during the past by-election in ward 28. This is their response (Translated from Afrikaans): ”The past by-elections in Mpumalanga showed that the political landscape in South Africa is busy changing and that stronger coalitions between opposition parties will oppose the ANC
thoroughly. These coalitions will allow opposition parties to lead on National, Provincial and local levels to ensure that the ANC does not achieve an absolute majority to rule. The results of the By-election in Bethal (ward 28) on 9 October strengthen this statement. The FF+ only achieved 6 votes less than the ANC. The ANC won the ward with 36% of the votes. Bethal (ward 28) was a previous DA controlled ward. In Lydenburg the DA won with a narrow margin of 48% of the votes cast (81% in 2016). The FF+’s support grew to 33% from a previous 8%. These results clearly show that there is an increased possibility to stop the ANC through coalitions. The FF+ believes that a true power shift can only be achieved when voters vote according to their convictions for a party that shares their values. This is happening now and the public is no longer fooled by a lie that voting for another party as the official opposition is a wasted vote. The FF+ had huge successes during the National elections on 8 May and the successes that were achieved during the by-elections on 9 October show that this trend will continue to the benefit of the normal voter that does not want to sacrifice their values.” The Bulletin also approached the Democratic Alliance on the election results. Bosman Grobler, DA Provincial Chairperson – Mpumalanga wrote the following: “It will be an understatement to say that
South Africans don’t differ in their expectations regarding government and its responsibilities. It is quite clear that ANC services delivery failures were pinned on the DA and this shows that we have a responsibility to strengthen our democracy by clearly defining the roles of the ruling party and the opposition. The impact of the result of the byelection is that the ruling party has been given a stronger mandate to make decisions in Govan Mbeki. This is utterly disappointing, as Govan Mbeki municipality is one the worst run municipalities in the province, with huge outstanding debt to both Eskom and Rand Water, as well as a total lack of service delivery. Accountability towards the budget, as well as the planning cycles of the municipality has been weakened by the result of the by-election. Personally I feel that our project to build a South Africa where every individual, regardless of our differences, can live the life he or she values, has taken a step back, should we continue on the trend, the realisation of this dream, will be postponed by a further 10 - 15 years.”
The Bulletin asked if poor performance by the DA in ward 28 played a role in the good performance of the FF+. Bosman replied: “I think first and foremost one should keep in mind that the ANC is the ruling party in Govan Mbeki municipality. It is very difficult for an opposition councillor to implement projects in their wards, because the ANC still have the final budget vote. To take a step back, while being in opposition across the country, the DA has been building a strong and united opposition, in order to have a platform to launch a credible campaign to win a municipality. This has worked very well and we see the results in various metros where voters kept their trust in the DA. This requires trust and patience from the voter, which is clearly lacking in Govan Mbeki and evident in ward 28. As a party the DA is proud of the systems and structures we have in place to hold our public representatives to account. We are the only political party in the world that has formal target setting and evaluation for our public representatives. We are of the opinion that our public representatives are accountable in their wards and make a difference where they can. Having said that, the DA councillor that resigned from ward 28 Govan Mbeki, had exceptionally difficult personal circumstances and at times might have lacked in serving the community to a certain standard. That being said, even underperforming DA councillors serve communities better than most other public representatives. As the DA we will not stop fighting for the dream we believe in, this is the only long-term solution for South Africa. A South Africa, where every individual, regardless of our differences, can live the life he or she values… “ The Bulletin asked the previous councillor for her comments on the by-election results, but she declined to comment. The Bulletin would like to congratulate the ANC on winning the ward. Only time would tell if the new councillor, Mabhiyane Andries Sipela, would be able to make a difference in Bethal. -Encee van Huyssteen