Hill-Lewis warns DA voters not to stay home as Cape Town election tightens - IOL
Democratic Alliance's mayoral candidate for Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis has warned party supporters against complacency, saying they have to go out in numbers to ensure the party retains its majority in the City.
With the local government elections just days away, DA leader and Cape Town mayoral candidate Geordin Hill-Lewis is warning supporters not to take the party’s position in the city for granted.
Hill-Lewis has urged DA voters to turn out in large numbers next Wednesday, warning that smaller parties could collectively threaten the party’s majority and open the door to what he calls “coalition chaos” involving the ANC and EFF.
Two party insiders told the Cape Times that the DA was concerned about its support, with internal polling reportedly putting the party at 51% this week.
The sources also claimed there was unhappiness among some traditional DA voters, with some considering staying away from the polls in protest.
They attributed the discontent to high property rates and municipal tariffs, as well as the party’s response to residents who had raised concerns.
“The polls show that our voters are not necessarily going to the PA or to the ANC, but they are angry that the DA was arrogant when people raised concerns about the high rates in Cape Town,” one source said.
The party has previously defended the city’s property rates and municipal billing, arguing that Cape Town ratepayers were better off than those in other cities.
Hill-Lewis dismissed the claims of voter dissatisfaction as rumours.
“Who are you hearing this from? That sounds like an opposition narrative, unless there is some polling to back that up, it is just rumour,” he said.
Hill-Lewis said polling showed that several smaller parties, including the Patriotic Alliance (PA), Freedom Front Plus (FF+), ActionSA and Al Jama-ah, had each gained a small amount of support.
“What the polling shows is that a number of smaller parties - the PA, FF+, ActionSA, Al Jamah etc, are all up by a small margin. One percent here and one percent there may not seem like a danger, but taken together, these small margins add up to big danger. They risk throwing the city into coalition chaos,” he said.
He argued that the smaller parties could not govern effectively and criticised their track records in coalition governments.
“All they will do is use their seats to continuously trade one another off against each other for a better deal, which leads to chaos. This is not theory. This is exactly what has happened wherever they’ve been involved in coalitions elsewhere.”
Hill-Lewis said smaller parties often entered agreements with the ANC, which he argued could allow the party to take control of Cape Town.
He urged DA supporters not to assume the election was already won or that other voters would turn out in sufficient numbers.
Hill-Lewis confirmed that the DA was polling at 51% in Cape Town.
The party secured 58.3% of the vote in the city in the November 2021 local government elections, retaining control of the municipality.
“Currently the race for Cape Town is close. Cape Town’s progress is on the ballot. And there is no such thing as a safe majority if the people who support it stay at home. Polling puts the DA on 51% in Cape Town, and this election is too close for comfort,” he said.
“Voting for smaller parties just opens the door to the ANC and EFF to take over Cape Town. We cannot allow that instability to come to Cape Town.”
Stellenbosch University senior lecturer and political analyst Dr Kuhle Zwakala believes the DA will retain support in its strongholds, particularly among higher-income communities.
However, he said the party could face losses among black and coloured voters because of concerns about unequal service delivery, particularly when compared with services in more affluent parts of the city.
“I think it’s apparent and it’s public knowledge that the DA does not serve everyone in Cape Town. It's got its preferences, it's got its specific geographical area
