DA leader in Gauteng, Solly Msimanga, has expressed optimism that more councillors from political parties in Joburg and Tshwane would join his party en masse ahead of the 2026 local government elections.
This comes after the DA unveiled Novina Pillay, an ActionSA PR councillor, as their newly-recruited member during a media briefing in Pretoria.
Msimanga said in Tshwane more public representatives have been speaking to the DA in the wake of the recent political squabbles between his party and ActionSA, which led to the removal of former Mayor Cilliers Brink.
“More and more people have been saying we don’t agree with the decisions that have been taken and in fact we are seeing them as bullying tactics because our views were not heard,” he said.
He said in Joburg there have also been councillors approaching the DA with the intention of joining the party soon.
Msimanga is confident that the DA will gain more support in the coming year, with several public representatives and structures expected to join the party.
“Next year, I think we will have quite a number of public representatives and structures that will be joining us,” Msimanga said.
Pillay said she departed from ActionSA because of racism, saying that “there were quite a few comments on Twitter (X) from ActionSA leadership regarding white people”.
She didn’t specify the nature of the racist comments.
She said she wasn’t worried about encountering the same racism within the DA.
“No, I have had many years experience with the DA. I have worked hand in hand with the DA community leaders before joining ActionSA and I have never experienced racism within the DA. Everybody was always willing to assist me if I came to them on any issue regarding the community not being victimised by the DA or bullied for that matter,” Pillay said.
Msimanga said: “Not once have I heard people who are leaving the DA saying that the DA is racist if a journalist is asking them to give a practical example of what could have happened.”
He said it was interesting that people who claimed to have been in the DA for 20 years come up with racism stories only when they leave.
He also emphasised the DA's commitment to holding its representatives to a higher standard, removing those who exhibit racist attitudes or underperform.
“We have removed a councillor in Ekurhuleni quite recently who went on public saying people of a particular skin colour must work together because the councillor didn’t represent the DA values,” he said.
Pretoria News
rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za