DA eyes ANC bastions in Johannesburg as it rolls out diverse slate for November vote
The Democratic Alliance has put Johannesburg’s ANC-held areas in its sights as it unveiled a candidate slate it says reflects a broader mix of South
The Democratic Alliance has put Johannesburg’s ANC-held areas in its sights as it unveiled a candidate slate it says reflects a broader mix of South African voters ahead of the November 4 local government elections.
The opposition party is aiming high. Its campaign manager and deputy finance minister, Ashor Sarupen, has said the DA is targeting 60 of South Africa’s 257 municipalities and is betting on winning over ANC voters rather than relying only on its own base.
Focus on swing ground
Johannesburg is part of that push. So are other ANC strongholds the party has singled out in recent months, including Khayelitsha in Cape Town’s metro area, as well as battleground municipalities in the Eastern Cape.
The calculation is simple. Turnout and defections.
Sarupen told Business Day in July that the party believed a shift was already under way, pointing to recent by-elections. He said the DA governs 27 municipalities now, and internal forecasts suggest it could emerge as the largest party in every major metro by a clear margin, though he warned that turnout would decide whether that edge turns into outright control.
Reading the by-election signals
The DA has leaned heavily on recent local wins to argue that former ANC voters are moving across. In May, party leader and Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis hailed the DA’s win in Ward 28 in Evaton, Emfuleni, as a political watershed after the party captured a ward that had been in ANC hands.
Hill-Lewis said at the time that the result showed the DA could break through in places where it once barely registered. The party’s candidate, Maki Emily Tshabalala, won with 32.08% of the vote, overturning the ANC’s 50.90% share from the 2021 municipal elections.
That was no small shift. The ward had once been deep ANC terrain.
What the DA is banking on
The party has also held ground in the Western Cape, including two wards in Saldanha Bay in April, reinforcing its message that it can defend strongholds while reaching into opposition territory.
Now it wants a bigger map. Much bigger.
The November vote will test whether that strategy works in Johannesburg and beyond, where local contests have often turned on narrow margins, turnout drops and voter frustration with municipal performance. Sarupen’s target of 60 municipalities sets a high bar, but it also signals how aggressively the DA intends to chase ANC voters in metros and smaller councils alike.
The first real answer comes on November 4.
