Tensions flare in DA Ekurhuleni caucus

Beneath the surface of the Ekurhuleni council there are claims of fractures in the DA’s caucus as party members jockey for positions and power. Picture: Gallo Images Senior DA officials and public representatives have dismissed claims of ructions in the DA’s Ekurhuleni caucus as election jitters and competitive behaviour between councillors, candidates, and activists. This, after several party members and public representatives contactedThe Citizenwith complaints, claims, and internal digs never intended for public consumption, but leaked nonetheless.

None of the complainants wanted to be named due to the upcoming candidate evaluations and selection in Ekurhuleni for the municipal elections and the DA federal congress. Allegations between activists who support a sitting ward councillor and a candidate vying to contest the election in their place on behalf of the DA have reached fever pitch. The current councillor claimed the candidate has been interfering with the machinations of their ward, to the point of hiring armed security personnel to prevent the councillor from entering parts of her ward.

It goes further. The councillor has applied for a protection order against the candidate. This, while claiming that DA structures have not intervened.

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Another DA councillor in Ekurhuleni spoke of divides between two so-called “cabals” in the caucus and joined the aforementioned in filing two separate complaints with the now former speaker. The first councillor alleged she had been subjected to sustained harassment, defamation, intimidation, and emotional abuse for two years, which she claimed had intensified during the election year. She said repeated attempts to seek help from the party and municipal leadership had produced no intervention or response. A raft of WhatsApp messages on an internal DA group between the ward councillor and their caucus colleagues, seen byThe Citizen, showed a measure of tension in the ranks.

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