‘Ehrenreich could get crucial 750 000 votes’

Quinton Mtyala

Political Writer

Two weeks before a crucial election for the Western Cape ANC, the party says it will need just over 750 000 votes if Tony Ehrenreich is to become Cape Town’s next mayor.

Its provincial secretary, Songezo Mjongile, said the ANC’s campaign was gathering momentum in its quest to retake Cape Town.

“To win the City of Cape Town, the ANC needs (to win) 56 wards and about 750 000 (proportional) votes based on the expected turn-out. The trends show this is attainable,” said Mjongile.

If the ANC’s supporters flocked to the polls, Mjongile said, the DA’s support would fall below 50 percent.

“In the metro, comrade Tony Ehrenreich is making a strong impact and is a real contender for the office of the Cape Town mayor.

“Tony’s appeal grows by the day and more people see him as the better candidate for this position. Even his poster looks the best,” said Mjongile.

Cosatu’s shop stewards have also been mobilised to organise the union federation’s 280 000 members in Cape Town to vote for the ANC, a move which would be replicated across the province.

With about 1.9 million people registered to vote, the ANC is hoping a 79 percent voter turn-out will deliver it the City of Cape Town.

In the 2006, local government elections, the ANC received 280 232 proportional votes in the City of Cape Town.

In the provincial elections, where turn-out was relatively high, the ANC received 476 662 votes in 2004 and 411 122 in 2009, even though the number of registered voters had increased by 266 468 between the two polls.

The ANC is also expecting to take votes from those who had supported Cope in 2006, although this had been just over 94 000 at the 2009 polls.

Mjongile said several municipalities which the DA controlled in coalition with other parties were vulnerable.

“In the rural areas, the ANC is working hard and a number of DA-controlled municipalities are vulnerable to be taken by the ANC, such as Theewaterskloof, George, Stellenbosch and Swellendam,” said Mjongile.

The ANC would expose the “delivery myth” the DA had been pushing in its public relations campaign, and cited several instances in which the party failed to act against its own members who were found guilty of corruption.

“In Eden District Municipality, Patrick Murray, Henry McCombi and Johan Koegelenberg were found guilty of offering a bribe of R20 000 to deputy mayor Anthony Ewert (NPP) in 2009 through a middleman, Deon Nomdoe, to vote with the DA.

“A recording was made of the offer. Nomdoe, a council official, was sentenced to six months in jail or a fine of R6 000 by the George Magistrate’s Court last year. But the three are back as DA candidates!” said Mjongile.

He said the DA had condoned the actions of the two by placing them at number one and two on the party’s PR list for the Eden District Municipality. But DA provincial leader Theuns Botha last night charged that the action against the three councillors was illegal.

The ANC has also accused Patricia de Lille of “nepotism” for employing her relatives within the ID’s party structure and securing jobs for them at municipalities where it was in coalition.

An angry De Lille refused to respond to the claims and referred all questions to the ID’s Lance Greyling. In a written statement, Greyling said: “These allegations are, frankly, baseless nonsense and probably inspired by disaffected candidates who didn’t make the list and crossed to the ANC.”