By Celani Sikhakhane
- Ngema told a DA recruitment event in Newlands on Saturday that rival councillors desert their wards after winning elections and move into better-kept DA-governed areas.
- A 2023 News24 report found KZN municipalities spent R84 million on councillor bodyguards in just six months, often without any SAPS threat assessments being carried out.
Sithembiso Ngema says councillors from rival parties are winning elections in townships and informal settlements, then moving out and leaving their communities behind.
The DA’s KwaZulu-Natal leader made the remarks on Saturday at a recruitment event in Newlands, north of Durban, where members from the MKP, EFF, ANC and IFP joined the party.
Ngema said those councillors relocate to DA-governed wards that are better maintained, while the communities that voted for them go without services and without anyone they can reach.
“This is the time for our communities to join the DA because it is the only political party where our councillors do not run away from their wards and leave the people who elected them with poor service delivery and high crime rates,” he said.
Township residents in Durban have long raised the same complaint. Communities have clashed repeatedly over candidates accused of living far from the areas they represent. Some councillors have said they left for safety reasons, citing threats.
The security bill attached to those threats has been steep. According to a News24 report published in May 2023, KZN municipalities spent R84 million on private bodyguards for councillors in just six months of 2022. EThekwini carried the largest share of that cost.
A separate Mercury report from 2023 found that about 24 eThekwini councillors were receiving protection, including the mayor and speaker, and that many had been assigned bodyguards without any formal threat assessment from SAPS. Metro police officers were pulled away from community patrols to guard politicians instead.
Ngema’s recruitment event drew members from four parties. He said the movement toward the DA was a sign that communities were tired of being abandoned.
Pictured above: KZN DA Leader Sithembiso Ngema with Tim Brauteseth of the KZN Legislature and eThekwini Mayoral Candidate Haniff Hoosen, welcoming a former EFF member to the DA.
Image source: KZNDA
