DA supports ANC to pass R71bn Metro budget, political hits, by-elections result | Wayne Sussman

In the latest edition of The Electoral Road Show, Chris Steyn and elections analyst Wayne Sussman talk about Ekurhuleni finally managing to pass a R71-billion budget thanks to the Democratic Alliance (DA) supporting the African National Congress (ANC). Sussman warns: “...we know the Freedom Front did far better in Ekurhuleni than the City of Johannesburg in 2021. And they could also say, look, the DA and the ANC are the exact same, there's no difference, vote for us. We will stand up to the ANC. So on the one hand, the DA is saying they're acting in the residents' interest, they're acting in service delivery' interests, but critics of the ANC and DA will paint another picture.” Sussman also analyses the results of last night by-elections in which both the ANC and the DA held wards with “the DA laying down a marker to the Freedom Front in the Northwest, and the ANC certainly making a big point with its strong showing in Bushbuckridge”. As for the spate of killings of politicians and activists over the past registration weekend, he says “it is plausible that these might be politically motivated hits”.