Municipal elections: DA sticks to its stalwarts as ANC & EFF look to wrestle control of Cape Town

Twenty years since taking control of the Cape Town metro, the DA is largely sticking with its stalwarts to keep the city under its control in the upcoming municipal polls.

It’s named aldermen JP Smith and Xanthea Limberg just below incumbent mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis among its top three candidates.

Meanwhile, the ANC has placed party campaigner Banoyolo Yawa as number one on its list ahead of the current opposition leader in council, Ndithini Tyhido, who is among its mayoral contenders.

While the ANC’s provincial convenor Jeremiah Thuynsma is on the party’s mayoral shortlist, he does not appear on the party’s candidate list to contest the upcoming polls.

The party’s old guard, a former provincial secretary and MP, Faiez Jacobs has been included at number 14 on the PR list, while former provincial MEC Leonard Ramatlakane is standing as a ward candidate in Durbanville.

Meanwhile, the DA is coming under fire for ranking councilor Abdulkader Elyas at number four on its PR list, after Elyas was previously sanctioned by the party for lying about his academic qualifications and posing as a medical doctor.

The EFF is offering its parliamentary whip Nontando Nolutshungu as its mayoral candidate and the only PR candidate to appear on its list.

After entering the Cape Town City Council for the first time in 2021 with seven seats, the National Coloured Congress has nominated Ellen Pakkies as its mayoral candidate.

She shot to notoriety in 2007 after killing her drug-addicted son and was handed a suspended sentence for the crime in recognition of the hardships she faced in getting support.

The candidate list, running into more than 2000 pages, was published by the Electoral Commission this week for public scrutiny ahead of councillors officially being awarded their certificates of participation next week.