GQEBERHA, EASTERN CAPE — As the 2026 local elections approach, the Democratic Alliance has officially named its six Eastern Cape mayoral candidates, rolling out a comprehensive strategy focused on municipal turnaround, investor confidence, and aggressive job creation across the province.
Fielding the largest slate of mayoral hopefuls in its provincial history, party leadership is projecting high confidence for the November 4 ballot. Provincial Leader Andrew Whitfield emphasized that the party’s overarching mandate is to stimulate employment by ensuring local governments actually function. According to Whitfield, getting municipalities to work effectively is the critical first step to delivering on these campaign promises.
In the critical battleground of Nelson Mandela Bay, the campaign narrative centers on professionalising the municipal administration. Mayoral candidate Retief Odendaal warned that a severe leadership deficit is crippling the metro. He pointed out that nine executive director roles—including the city manager’s office—are currently unfilled. Odendaal argued that this top-management vacuum has plunged the municipality into a state of paralysis, directly harming both basic service delivery and the broader local economy.
Conversely, the party is looking to leverage its established track record in Kouga, the sole Eastern Cape municipality where the DA has maintained an outright majority and governed without coalition partners since 2016. Incumbent Mayor Hattingh Bornman argued that this uninterrupted political stability is a proven catalyst for investor confidence. Looking ahead to a potential new term, Bornman identified the expansion of the industrial development zone in Humansdorp as a primary objective to inject significant capital into the regional economy.
To break down the specific mandates for the remaining municipalities, the newly announced candidates highlighted localized priorities centered on investment, job creation, basic services, and infrastructure:
- Blue Crane Route: Lorraine Smith is campaigning on a platform of basic service restoration and ethical governance. Her core pledges include eradicating corruption, guaranteeing consistent refuse removal, and systematically clearing illegal dumping sites to ensure a safe environment.
- Inxuba Yethemba: Betty Lovens is prioritizing economic empowerment. Her strategy revolves around fortifying the local economy to generate employment, which she plans to achieve by actively courting external investment and bolstering existing local businesses.
- Dr Beyers Naudé: Eldridge Ruiters is taking a pragmatic approach focused on the fundamentals of local government. His campaign promises to prioritize the implementation of dependable municipal services and the restoration of functional public infrastructure.
- Makana: Highlighting the severe deterioration of public works, Luvuyo Sizani is making road maintenance a central issue. Underscoring the critical state of the local transport network, Sizani quipped, “Our roads are so bad that we even have a restaurant called Potholes and Donkeys in Makana.”
With the slate finalized and the November 4 local government elections looming, the Democratic Alliance is banking on this expanded roster to secure outright majorities and drive a new era of service delivery across the Eastern Cape.
