DA leader Steenhuisen warns against voting for smaller parties

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has warned against voting for smaller parties, which he says only prolongs the suffering of residents in struggling municipalities and metros.

He said that voters in unstable metros with poor service delivery, like Nelson Mandela Bay, have to give one party an outright majority if they want to see meaningful change and political stability.

Steenhuisen was addressing party supporters in Gqeberha in the metro on Monday after announcing Retief Odendaal as the party’s mayoral candidate to contest next year’s local government elections.

Steenhuisen’s comments also come not long after Rise Mzansi, the Good Party and Build One South Africa (BOSA) announced their merger, named Unite for Change, to contest next year’s local polls.

"People come along and form other parties like Rise Mzansi. Well, they didn’t rise in the last election. It’s like my soufflé, it never rises. They don’t get it right and you know what ends up happening?Thousands of our people go and vote for those parties and where are they today? Did they put a single tap on? Did they put a single kilowatt of electricity in your home?"