By Zukile Majova
Political Editor
The race for premier of the Western Cape just got spicier with the introduction of GOOD party founder Patricia de Lille.
The announcement this week comes ahead of the party’s manifesto launch on Saturday.
Auntie Pat, a veteran of South African politics, boasts a broad public appeal with many communities in the province.
Cape Town residents will remember her stint as mayor of the metro, while the business sector has been singing her praises for fixing SA Tourism within months of becoming tourism minister.
De Lille’s reputation as a hands-on politician shone through after three years of Covid-19 lockdown regulations and load shedding threatened to shut down hotels and restaurants.
Stats SA said international tourist arrivals from January to December 2023 increased by 48% to reach 8.5-million.
But while De Lille was busy in the national government, her party suffered a huge setback in parts of the Cape, especially when it lost three wards in George to the DA and the Patriotic Alliance.
The GOOD party, however, has been growing in Nyanga and gave the DA a run for its money during a by-election in Theewaterskloof, Grabouw.
The party is expected to be one of the potential kingmakers when the battle for the coloured vote begins.
De Lille is seen as being in the same grouping as Gayton McKenzie, the Patriotic Alliance’s candidate for premier.
Also on the same side, effectively, is ANC chairperson JJ Tyhalisisu — the revered party strongman from the Dullah Omar region, who shocked Cameron Dugmore by winning the ANC Western Cape elective conference.
While their respective parties will contest the elections separately, the three are essentially already working together at different levels of government.
The PA and the ANC are working together in the City of Johannesburg, while De Lille is the only non-ANC politician in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet.
Current Western Cape premier Alan Winde is the DA’s candidate for premier in the 29 May elections and says his track record will do the talking for him.
“We’ve got a track record which shows that we get things done, and we’re ready to work even harder to do more, for you, the residents of the Western Cape,” he said.
Pictured above: Auntie Pat has gained public appeal in many Western Cape communities.
Source: X
