Rustenburg – The DA is happy to retain Midvaal Municipality, in Gauteng, with a growing majority, said party leader John Steenhuisen on Tuesday.
“The DA now governs municipalities with outright majorities in three provinces other than the Western Cape. And, in two of those provinces, these municipalities are ranked as the best performing in the province. It is surely only a matter of time before uMngeni joins Midvaal and Kouga on that list,” he said.
“The most encouraging aspect of this comprehensive victory is that all the votes gained came from former ANC voters, who realised that there is no future for towns and cities under an ANC, that has failed for two decades and counting. We have just seen a similar situation unfold in uMngeni, in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), where the DA turned a former ANC stronghold into an outright DA government,” said Steenhuisen.
We have retained Midvaal Municipality with an increased majority.
— John Steenhuisen MP (@jsteenhuisen) November 2, 2021
A special tribute to Mayor @BonganiBaloyiEM and his team for the great service - governing in the interest of the people.
We thank the residents of Midvaal for endorsing the DA difference. 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/M2wkrPZfmm
He said the DA has won the uMngeni Municipality, in the KZN Midlands, outright, taking 13 of the council’s 25 seats.
“This breakthrough victory in what has, until now, been an ANC stronghold is the first municipality the DA has ever won in KZN, and underlines our credentials as a party of government in multiple provinces."
Former ANC deputy mayor Nompumelelo Buthelezi defected to the DA on the eve of the municipal election.
Steenhuisen said the DA votes in Midvaal had increased from 59% in 2016 to 63% in 2021, taking two wards from the ANC and attracting more black voters in the municipality.
“There is only one reason why Midvaal voters would entrust the DA with the future of their municipality, and that is its track record in government there, over the past two decades.
“Under an outright DA government – the only one in Gauteng – Midvaal has left its neighbouring ANC-run municipalities in its wake. For the past decade, it has been rated as Gauteng’s best-run municipality, with an unprecedented seven straight clean audits, and the lowest unemployment figures in the province,” said Steenhuisen.
IOL