PA emerges as the dark horse

AS the Patriotic Alliance (PA) is emerging as the dark horse in the Northern Cape, PA premier candidate in the Northern Cape, Sharifa Ferris said they are aiming to be the official opposition in the 2026 local government elections.

With the ANC likely to make a majority win, the EFF and PA were going head to head as votes were being counted on Thursday.

She said that they ran their campaign on a shoestring budget.

“Being a relatively new party, our campaign was funded by the PA President Gayton McKenzie, the national office and other sponsors, so it has been difficult but everyone jumped in to lend a helping hand. We have been in the Province for five years and are competing against bigger parties with over 30 years in politics with a lot of resources.”

Ferris stated that they were aiming for five seats in the Northern Cape provincial legislature and 30 percent of the vote in the province.

“We built our campaign on addressing service delivery. We focused on the heart of politics - where it affects our voters the most. The majority of our voters are the missing middle where they have not found a home with the DA or ANC.

“We will not enter into a coalition with a party that does not conform to our ideals. However coalitions are a national decision and cannot be done provincially.”

She predicted that the ANC would only secure 50 percent of the votes.

ANC provincial chairperson Dr Zamani Saul said he expected a 60 percent win in the Province.

“Votes that will come in towards the end of the counting day, especially from the John Taolo Gaetsewe district, will topple the scales in favour of the ANC.”

EFF provincial chairperson Shadrack Tlhaole was not perturbed by the PA or ANC.

“They are competing against us we are not interested in coalitions. We are ready to bring services to the people and tackle corruption.”

FF+ councillor Kobus van den Berg stated that their voters had increased since the 2019 national general elections.

“We will continue to be the eyes and ears on the ground to ensure that there is transparency and accountability. We did lose votes to the DA and PA but are confident that we will continue to make inroads in the Province.”

DA provincial leader Harold McGluwa stated that the ANC’s vision of a 60 percent win was only a “pipe dream” while they were aiming for a 30 percent share of the vote in the Northern Cape.

“Corruption is the elephant in the room while municipalities are in crisis. Typically coalitions have been problematic at municipalities “

DA premier candidate Isak Fritz added that the DA campaign was based on promoting clean governance and service delivery.

“We have the expertise and experience,” he added.