THE ANC is vying to secure a lofty victory in the beleaguered DA and Freedom Front Plus-controlled Matzikama municipality.
The ANC is saying it might just bust out a spectacular coalition move to get the job done.
Residents of Vanrhynsdorp who make up the municipality’s ward 7, will be heading to the polls on July 6 to elect a new councillor to replace Christo Boks who resigned from his party to join the DA last month.
Matzikama is currently controlled by a multi-coalition alliance, with the DA being the majority and its councillor Johan van der Hoven donning the mayoral chain.
Following a heated argument the leader of the Patriotic Alliance (PA) Gayton McKenzie withdrew his party’s alliance with the DA.
The ANC said it’s imperative that they win.
“The ANC has made thorough preparations, our candidate(s) are always products of community participation and enjoy the confidence of our people,“ said the party’s spokesperson Sifiso Mtsweni.
“It’s time to make Matzikama work and give much-needed services to our people, especially the poor and downtrodden,” he said, adding that a coalition will be constituted.
But the DA is confident that they will retain control over the hotly-contested region of Matzikama.
“The upcoming Matzikama by-election could be (an indicator) for 2024, with voters in Vanrhynsdorp giving the ANC a blow,” said Jaco Londt, the DA provincial chairperson.
“Firstly, it will be important to stabilise the DA coalition in Matzikama, it has been proven many times that stable governments provide better services.
“In the provincial and national context, it is important to build on the successes of the recent by-elections with all indications that if we work together, the ANC will fall below 50% nationally and the DA retain the Western Cape.”
The Prince Albert municipality also have a by-election on the cards following the suspension of Karoo Gemeenskap Party (KGP) councillor, Magrietha Jaftha by her party. Jaftha is trying to overturn her suspension and this has stalled a vacancy in the municipality, and has led to the ANC and DA fighting over who are the legitimate leaders following Jaftha’s ousting.
Political analyst Dr Dale McKinley said the upcoming by-elections would be interesting.
“But it is not going to be a bellwether of other local government elections, more a Western Cape type concern as the ANC tries to recreate itself in the Western Cape,” McKinley said.
Political analyst from Stellenbosch University, Zweli Ndevu, said: “The ANC has always seen Matzikama as part of their traditional base and they may be (aiming) high because the DA is also experiencing internal challenges.”
He added: “This could affect its performance in the by-elections.”
Analyst Sanusha Naidu said the situation in the municipality was a prime example of how unstable coalition agreements can get.
“The real challenge is the fact that the current coalition in Matzikama sets the precedent that coalitions can become quite unsteady and unstable, depending on how they are formulated and how cohesive they are,” she told the Weekend Argus.
“If one of the partners pull out then you end up in the situation where you now need to go into by-elections and it then becomes an unpredictable kind of outcome.
“There are numerous things that I think are important here, with the most important one being the issue around the ANC being very confident that they’ll win that ward.
“The ANC is banking on its back-door diplomacy with the PA,” she said.