Durban - Candidates from three political parties will square-off in a by-election in Umzimkhulu, KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday.
|||Durban - Candidates from three political parties will square-off in a by-election in Umzimkhulu, KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday.
African National Congress spokesman Senzo Mkhize said on Tuesday the party's candidate for the ward was Zibuse Mthobeni.
Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille announced on Saturday that her party's candidate was Jabulani Chiya.
Chiya and the DA have said he used to be an ANC member. However, he left the ANC and stood as an independent candidate for the ward, where he was elected in the previous election.
He later joined the DA, making a by-election necessary.
Mkhize denied that Chiya was once an ANC member.
“He wanted to run for the ward for the ANC, but he was not a card-carrying member, so we told him no. That is why he ran as an independent candidate.”
At a rally in Umzimkhulu on Saturday, Zille said Chiya “stood up for what he believed in”.
“He left the ANC because he felt they had betrayed their values and had forgotten about the people,” she said.
“Then he stood as an independent councillor, and won. He was only able to do this because you, the people of Umzimkhulu, decided to use the power of your vote to elect him.”
She said Chiya had over time come to realise the DA was the party that best represented hope for South Africa.
“You've stuck by Jabulani Chiya all the way, and he has never let you down. Put the power of your vote behind someone who you know will put the people first,” Zille said.
A spokesman for the Inkatha Freedom Party, which is also contesting the ward, could not be reached. - Sapa