Wave of political defections in the Western Cape

The ANC’s Provincial Secretary for the Western Cape, Nevile Delport, has announced his defection from the party. 

He will be joining the Democratic Alliance (DA) alongside a regional executive and two ward councillors who were also previously part of the ANC.

Other defecting ANC members are Langeberg Ward Councillor Daniel Baadjies, Cederberg Ward Councillor Paul Staruss and Regional Executive Member Jason Donn.

Addressing the media on 5 November, Chairperson for the DA’s Federal Council , Helen Zille, said that the ANC’s support is “disintegrating” in the Western Cape. 

As politics realigns following this collapse, Zille continued, some will be defecting to the DA. The party anticipates more members to come.

“This is a milestone moment, and it mirrors the swing in support by South African voters who continue to abandon the ANC to support the DA,” said Zille.

Speaking on his decision to switch sides, Delport said that it was not an easy choice. His decision ultimately came down to the ANC’s reconfiguration of its leadership in the Western Cape. 

The ANC said it would establish a Provincial Task Team (PTT) to take on the Western cape.

Secretary general Fikile Mbulula said the reconfiguration was “not a punitive measure, but a proactive and progressive step.”

The previous South African ambassador to the United States, Ebrahim Rasool, was chosen to lead the structure.

Linda Moss was appointed as deputy. Other new faces in leadership included Vuyiso Tyhalisisu, Thandi Manikavana Makasi and Melanie Tambo.

Delport claimed that some, like himself, who had won their position through conference decisions, were thrown out and replaced by those who lost. 

He said the new team is aligned with a particular faction of the party “The ANC doesn’t respect the will of coloured people in the Western Cape. And so I went looking for a new political home,” he said. 

He added that he had been contacted by the Patriotic Alliance (PA) but declined the offer. He said he believes this is the right time to leave the ANC.

“The warning signs are there, the ANC is collapsing in the Western Cape,” he said. Zille distributed copies of the party’s constitution to  the new DA members, along with extras, “for the many others who will want to join us.”

The ANC responded to the defections, saying it was “not surprised nor shaken.” The party said Delport’s exit goes to show the ANC’s reconfiguration process in the Western Cape was correct.

“We have always been aware of his regressive and narrow ideological posture, which sought to divide our people on the basis of apartheid classification,” the ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu said.

“Delport’s decision to join a right-wing formation that is openly anti-transformation, anti-justice and indifferent to the suffering of Palestinians exposes the political and moral bankruptcy of those who abandon the cause of equality,” Bhengu added.

The spokesperson said that the ANC is not being weakened by these departures, but purified.

Defections galore

The news follows the departure of two members of the DA, councillors Marchell Kleynhans and Brendon Adams from George Municipality, dumping the party for the PA.

The councillors, who were MMCs, alleged racial bias as their reason for leaving the Western Cape’s largest party. Kleynhans said he left after a failed plot by the “coloured caucus” of the DA to oust Mayor Jackie von Brandis. 

Zille, addressing the recent departures, claimed that the PA offers money to people to join the party. 

“People come to us and say, ‘I want to join the DA, how much will you offer?’ and I say ‘we wont.’ If you want to join the DA, do it because you are committed to the party,” she said. 

Adams and Kleynhans said this was not true. According to News24, the two councillors said they were not being paid to join the PA. 

Earlier this year, the ANC lost its Cape Town caucus leader Banele Majingoas to the DA. Majingoas was an ANC councillor for over a decade.

In a resignation video, Majingoas said “after careful consideration, I have come to realise that my personal values and principles are now more aligned with those of the Democratic Alliance.”

At the time of this resignation, the ANC brushed off the defection. “We know that previously, at this time when elections are close, the DA usually lands some of the ANC councillors,” said Lwazi Phakade, ANC caucus spokesperson for the City of Cape Town.