Political heavyweights have recently visited the Ditsobotla Local Municipality in the North West as parties aim to attract voters ahead of Wednesday’s highly contested by-elections.
Only a few days after DA Federal Chair Helen Zille campaigned in the area and today it was party leader John Steenhuisen who stepped in.
A week ago it was President Cyril Ramaphosa who was championing the ANC’s bid to reclaim power after the council it led was dissolved by the provincial government, citing infighting within the ruling party caucus.
Steenhuisen first met with traditional DA supporters before heading to the dilapidated town of Lichtenburg to patch potholes.
The DA held six seats in the now-defunct council, and Steenhuisen sees the by-election as an opportunity to force the ANC out of office.
The DA hopes to club together with smaller parties to form a government to keep the ANC out of office in Ditsobotla.
Steenhuizen said the DA hoped to gain more wards in the by-elections and end up with a majority on its own. But if that fails, the party won’t walk away from working with other opposition parties and civil society organisations to try and form a majority.
“The money that should have been spent on fixing the roads, providing water and electricity, infrastructure, sewerage removal have been stolen and rather made politicians and their families and friends very wealthy and that is exactly why the municipality has been dissolved but the worst thing we can do is put the same people who got us into the situation in this municipality back in charge,” he said.
Steenhuisen is the latest to have an audience with the reluctant electorate and his message was met with scepticism from residents who have been listening to leaders of various political parties over the last few weeks.
The EFF’s Julius Malema is expected on Sunday where he too will be bringing his messaging to the Ditsobotla constituency.
At the back of Steenhuizen’s visit a resident in Blydeville, Anny Vris, complained about basic services and the unfulfilled promises made by politicians.
“Look how the street looks, we don’t have jobs, no water, nothing, there is filth everywhere, we don’t know what Steenhuisen is bringing for us,” she said.
Another resident Gershwin Williams said all the political parties made empty promises.
“I cannot really tell if he will bring about change because if you are voting for the ANC it’s a problem, if you are voting for the DA it’s still a problem every time they are making promises, and it’s empty promises,” he said.
