Who will dance with the DA?

GEORGE NEWS - A coalition government is the name of the game for the new George city council. The DA has secured 26 of the 55 seats in council in Monday's election.

That means they fall two seats short of an outright majority.

All indications are that the DA will govern with the help of the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), that secured four seats, and the ACDP that secured one seat in council.

Even if all the other opposition parties, ANC (10 seats), EFF (2 seats), Good (6 seats), PBI (5 seats) and PA (1 seat) stand together, they still won't be able to form a government.

Shortly after the results became known yesterday, 3 November, deputy leader of the DA in the Western Cape, Tertuis Simmers said that a coalition is on the cards for George.

He said the DA federal leadership will talk to the leadership of other parties about the possibility of forming a coalition and he can't pre-empt the talks.

Asked about the DA putting forward a mayoral candidate he said, "Because of the complexity of the mayoral process in George, all enquiries must be directed to Helen Zille."

Piet van der Hoven, election coordinator of the ANC, said the party is disappointed with the result but will respect it. He said the ANC is a democratic movement and as a party in the George city council, it will be a constructive opposition and play an oversight role.

Discussion time

Dr Corné Mulder, leader of the FF Plus in the Western Cape, said the party is prepared to work together with the DA in the best interests of George and its residents. "We have said from the beginning we don't want the ANC or the EFF to govern. We also said it is not good if the DA governs on its own."

The leadership of the FF Plus and the DA will meet in the next few days. He added: "If we are able to get common ground it will manifest on local level."

Adv Gert van Niekerk of FF Plus in George said he is happy with the result. "We achieved my goal set in 2016." He also said if the DA wants to govern, it will have to enter into a coalition with other parties.

Dr Dennis Farrell, business leader and former councillor, said it is a new era for George's politics. The deciding factor will be what deal the FF Plus will make with the DA. According to him the pressure from the combined opposition could bode well for improved service delivery for the constituents.

Foothold in council

The Good Party has grown from one seat to six in the George Council. "That is phenomenal growth," said the party's regional spokesperson, Donovan Saptoe. "We are grateful and it is good motivation to sharpen our approach to service delivery. We are now dealing with the aftermath of the election, like retrieving our posters.

"Furthermore, we do have some concerns which we have raised internally with the IEC. According to our projections, we should have done even better. We have worked very hard to bring about change."

Good retained Ward 27 (portion of Pacaltsdorp), and won Ward 16 (New Dawn Park) and Ward 20 (Borcherds) from the DA. "With the three wards and the three PR seats, Good is sure to become one of the fastest growing parties. The next five years are not going to be easy for the ruling DA party," said Saptoe.

Growing from two to five seats in Council, Virgill Gericke of the PBI said it is a feeling of tremendous joy and jubilation to witness the party's exponential growth.

"Our sincere gratitude to the electorate who enabled us to achieve this great milestone. We will present an outstanding calibre of councillors to serve the community and give effect to the promises of our election manifesto. Congratulations to all other parties and new councillors that will be privileged to serve on behalf of their constituencies."

Celebration time

Johan du Toit of the ACDP had enough reason to celebrate on Wednesday - another term in council with one seat and his 48th wedding anniversary with his wife Shannon. "I want to thank the voters for their trust in the ACDP. We will do our best to take their interests to heart and fight for a corruption-free government."

Du Toit said possible inter-party agreements will be negotiated on national and provincial level. "We have always worked with the DA in municipalities where it was needed and the ACDP could make a difference."

PA spokesperson in George Chantelle Kydd said they are very pleased to have attained a seat in George Municipality. "Patriotic Alliance is now represented in all municipalities in the Southern Cape and we will definitely use this to grow and expand our brand and do our very best to serve our communities. We thank the voters who entrusted the Patriotic Alliance with their vote."

On a request for comment, the EFF in the Southern Cape said they are waiting for a directive from their national leadership.