Ward 32 by-election - a hard fought contest with victory for the DA

On Wednesday there were two by-elections in Johannesburg necessitated by the election of councillors Gordon Mackay (ward 90) and Darren Bergman (32) to Parliament as MPs. All constituencies in South Gauteng were asked to help out with canvassing and mine, Soweto West, was allocated Ward 32 which covers an area in north eastern Joburg including Linbro Park, Modderfontein, the northeastern tip of Alexandra, Greenstone, Buccleuch and Klipfontein View in Midrand. It's a very mixed ward demographically speaking, and Darren won it against the odds by a couple of hundred votes in the 2011 municipal elections. It was vital we retained it with an increased majority. Ward 90 is a safe DA ward so we expected to win it comfortably.

I took part in two events in the last week of the campaign, first a public meeting in the evening then a motorcade taking in the entire ward. The public debate was hosted by Zinto, a marketing and activations company I had many dealings with while running the Soweto Festival Expo, and we were hoping for a decent turnout of local residents but no such luck. Most of the 30 or so people there were DA and ANC activists, which made for a rowdy debate.

Our candidate was Bongani Nkomo, a polished and Wits-educated man in his mid-twenties who was the Constituency Operations Manager (COM) in the Sandton constituency for the past two years where he learned the ins and outs of the party machine. Up against him was Tebogo Sithanthu from the ANC and Thobekile Xaba from the IFP. Coincidentally the Soweto Festival Expo was again a connecting factor, Tebogo having appeared there in his role as a producer of gospel music which is one of the many hats this articulate and presentable candidate offered the electorate. He also had the advantages of living in the ward and a boasting a relatively high profile. I knew this had the makings of a tight contest.

Both Bongani and Tebogo did well in their speeches, Bongani coming across as modest but quietly accomplished while Tebogo was more political and controversial, raising the hackles of the DA activists, many of whom had recently defected from the ANC. It ended with a few of the ANC lot walking out after complaining the chairman was biased, which did not go down well with our chanting and high-spirited contingent.

Then on Saturday I met up with about 30 activists and public reps including Gauteng Chair Mike Moriaty, Darren, Joburg caucus leader Vasco de Gama, colleagues from Soweto including Cllrs Garry Ramaru and Given Mogane, and a group of bikers who acted as outriders for the motorcade. We departed the Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet around 11 am. It was a very loud but well controlled procession that snaked its way through the ward, the bikers racing ahead to block traffic from entering intersections so we could proceed
uninterrupted.

The best bit was driving through Alex, which is used to ANC motorcades and revving Harley Davidsons but perhaps not a blue-attired brigade of noisy DA supporters. Pedestrians and home owners looked quite startled at this sight, some showing their support with clenched fists, others turning their thumbs down and giving us rude scowls. The motorcade wrapped up in Klipfontein View but I had to leave early, returning to duty only on election day.

I was posted to the Greenstone Hills voting station, a tent set up on a busy intersection next to a dusty building site. Alongside is a large newly built townhouse development which I was assured would significantly bolster our support as it had attracted many upwardly mobile DA voters as new residents. A DA table and gazebo was set up some distance from the tent with lots of balloons, bunting and posters, well manned by election manager Martin Louw and a team of councillors and activists. Mike Moriarty again made an appearance as did Patrick Atkinson who only stayed a short time as he was shaking off the flu. My COM, Nomzekelo Mohahaa and some of my Soweto activists swelled the numbers.


When I got there around 5 pm less than 400 votes had been cast and our target was to top the 800 mark, but the busy period was still to come so we were hopeful. And come they did, at one stage there was a queue of around 20 voters lined up outside the tent. By 8 pm it was clear we were easily going to hit the target and at 9 the entrance to the tent was closed, with me and Cllr David Lucas inside as the DA agents.


I had to curtail a scheduled call from Stedman Graham in Chicago after only a few minutes, the presiding officer firmly telling me to switch off my phone. As always, the count takes much longer than you expect with a very laborious procedure being followed to ensure accuracy and fairness. 884 votes were cast, and as they were being sorted into parties it was clear we had swept the board, ending with 838 to the ANC's 44 and 2 ballots without the IEC stamp which could not be counted.

On leaving the tent we saw Bongani in a huddle of DA supporters, peering into his phone alongside Khume Ramulifho the Chair of Gauteng South. They were receiving the counts from the other voting stations and looked anxious. Without Klipfontein View and Buccleuch we were ahead by 800 votes but then Klipfontein View came in and the lead was down to 60 so everything rested on Buccleuch. "Let's go there, now" came the call from Bongani so we all jumped into our cars and sped off.

It was a very windy route and in the dark - it must have been around 11:30 by now - it was hard to keep up, when suddenly just as we drove past Zinto's offices Bongani in front of me screeched to a halt and leapt of his car, fists pumping the air. "We've won, we've won" came his screams, whereupon all the other cars stopped and we rushed towards him to congratulate the newly elected councillor. The celebrations were infectious, and Bongani looked so proud, being hoisted skywards by Reggie and Given who had big smiles on their faces. Buccleuch, perhaps surprisingly, was overwhelmingly DA and we increased our majority by about 300 votes, up from 51% in 2011 to over 55%.

But we still had a few kms to go so into our cars we got again and drove at breakneck speed to the voting station, where we found our activists toyi-toying and chanting "Councillor Nkomo" - they also had the news. John Moody, the Gauteng leader, rumbled up in his Mercedes just at that point and had he had one he would have given that man a Bells. Bongani then made his maiden speech as an elected councillor, looking every bit the part.

It was time for me to duck, so I drove home feeling swelled by a good victory and the sense we had a new man installed, filled with enthusiasm for the party and all it stands for.