DA MPL Bobby Stevenson said the province’s poor performance on budget spending had a negative effect on the lives of poor people who were desperate for better education and healthcare services. THE embattled Eastern Cape Department of Education spent a paltry 43.9% of its funds budgeted for capital expenditure – the lowest of all the [...]

The Democratic Alliance is thrilled with the outcome of the municipal election throughout the province.  We retained Baviaans with an increased majority and are now close to governing in other municipalities. In the new metro, Buffalo City, where we showed dramatic growth of almost 100% going from 11 seats to 21. In Kouga we grew [...]

There is only one way to fix the poor expenditure patterns in the Eastern Cape and that is for MEC’s to sign performance agreements with the Premier. Cabinet ministers are required to do this with the president and ANC mayors are now also required to sign such agreements. Why are MEC’s being left out? The [...]

Your vote has the power to bring about a change of government on Wednesday and usher in new hope for all the people of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro. It’s going to be a knife-edge result where every vote will count. The choice is clear-cut. On the one hand one can continue to walk the [...]

On Wednesday people will go to the polls. The Democratic Alliance is on the cusp of an important breakthrough in this province and for that matter right across South Africa. We will win more municipalities than ever before. In the Eastern Cape we will bring a coalition government into effect in the Nelson Mandela Metro, [...]

OVER the last three months much attention has been given to the issue of unemployment. This featured heavily in the State of the Nation and Province addresses, and subsequent budget speeches at those levels. This is not unexpected on the eve of a municipal election as jobs are a key issue.

South Africa’s electoral landscape is changing. Polling data suggest that next month’s municipal election could go down as the first clear indicator of a shift in voting patterns, driven by rising unhappiness over service delivery, internal ructions in the tripartite alliance and the increasing consolidation of opposition around the Democratic Alliance. Research done by local [...]

Ruling party angered by rival’s claim that it now represents Mandela’s ideals NELSON Mandela’s name is at the centre of a bitter war of words between the ANC and the Democratic Alliance after the opposition party claimed to best represent the former president’s ideals. This follows DA leader Helen Zille’s public statements at various rallies [...]

ANC faces a combined opposition challenge in this town in its heartland, writes Sam Mkokeli THE contest for the Nelson Mandela metropolitan municipality is in full swing, and this time it is about more than just the control of the municipal coffers. Port Elizabeth is an important part of the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) struggle [...]