The DA in the Western Cape is fighting to get its name on the ballot for next year’s by-election in the 56th District in Cape Town.
- The DA in the greater Cape Town area is determined to get its name on the ballot before next year’s by-election in District 56.
- The party missed the IEC deadline to submit its nomination for ward councillor, while several political parties will contest the by-elections.
- A fierce battle is expected between the political parties to try to swoon voters of color.
The DA in the Western Cape is fighting to get its name on the ballot for next year’s by-election in the 56th Ward in Cape Town after it missed a South African Electoral Commission (IEC) deadline for submit nominations.
The February 2023 midterms are expected to be a fierce battle between political parties to try to swamp voters of color. The neighborhood includes Kensington, Factreton and Maitland.
Ward 56 Councilwoman Helen Jacobs resigned in November after being elected in 2016.
Seven political parties will contest the by-election in the district, including the Patriotic Alliance, the GOOD party, the EFF and Al Jama-ah.
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“All the February by-elections have nomination closing dates in January. This was the only one that closed in December and our processes could not be completed on time,” said Christopher Fry, DA Ithemba constituency chief.
However, several DA sources said the party was looking for excuses.
A source said:
The other parties submitted their candidates on time.
Another party member said it was a “monumental disaster”.
“The DA has not put forward a candidate. We missed the deadline. It is a leadership failure,” the source added.
The chairman of the DA’s Cape Town metropolitan region, Dan Plato, said the party was exploring options to resolve the matter.
“Historically, candidate nominations had to be submitted to the IEC approximately 23 days before Election Day. In this case, it was 51 days. This is not the norm and created a lot of confusion. This deviation [from] the standard schedule for submitting candidates to the IEC resulted in the party not submitting a candidate,” he said.
