Cilliers Brink, the DA’s mayoral candidate in Tshwane. (Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)

Mayoral candidates and ward councilor candidates braved the cold on Saturday to get as many voters as possible registered for the municipal elections in November.

Cilliers Brink, the DA’s mayoral candidate in Tshwane, appealed to young voters in particular to register in Moreleta Park in Pretoria. Brink believes the DA in Pretoria has an “enormous opportunity” with this year’s election.

“There are more than 300,000 DA supporters in the Tshwane metro who are either not registered, or incorrectly registered. This is more votes than the ANC got in the 2021 local government elections.”

Cilliers Brink, the DA’s mayoral candidate in Tshwane. (Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)

Helen Zille, the DA’s mayoral candidate in the neighboring city of Johannesburg, says this is also the case in this beleaguered metro.

Zille, armored against the cold in a blue coat and scarf, told Maroela Media at a registration station in Weltevredenpark on Saturday that the DA in Johannesburg also has more unregistered supporters “than there were ANC voters in 2021”.

“If all those supporters come and register, we will win Johannesburg.”

Helen Zille, the DA’s mayoral candidate in Johannesburg. (Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)

Zille’s party aims to get 37 new supporters registered per voting district this weekend. “We have until Sunday to get there.”

The DA has meanwhile announced that it is experiencing a higher than expected turnout at polling stations in traditionally DA wards. The party has also seen a significant increase in online registration help requests over the past three weeks.

The party announced at a media conference on Saturday afternoon that it had helped 99,705 supporters to be correctly registered over the last 30 days – the biggest increase in voter registrations in the DA’s history.

Helen Zille, the DA’s mayoral candidate in Johannesburg. (Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)

‘Make sure’, asks FF Plus

On Saturday, the FF Plus manned several stations at strategic points nationwide to lend a hand if voters needed help to register online.

“It is very positive for us when we see how many voters have already come for a visit,” Pieter de Necker, chief executive officer of the FF Plus, told Maroela Media on Saturday afternoon in Constantia Park in Pretoria, where Willie Spies, this party’s mayoral candidate for Tshwane, was grilling sausage rolls.

De Necker says voters must make sure they are correctly registered.

“Voters must realize that in the upcoming election they will have to vote where they are registered.”

Willie Spies, the FF Plus’ mayoral candidate in Tshwane. (Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)

Spear agrees.

“This is very important, because there has been a fairly radical delimitation of wards and voting districts. And in such cases it is necessary to re-register to make sure you are at the correct polling station on the electoral roll.

“It’s extremely important that you don’t just assume you’re registered because you voted in the last election. Instead, check.”

(Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)

‘Watershed year’ for FF Plus

Spies labels 2026 as a watershed year for the FF Plus.

“For the first time in a long time, it is possible that the FF Plus can be in government in several towns and cities thanks to coalitions with right-minded people.

“It is important that the FF Plus is represented as well as possible after November.”

De Necker told Maroela Media next to an overturned traffic light on Saturday afternoon that a municipal election directly affects South Africans, as voters elect their representatives at local level.

“They don’t sit in parliament in the Cape. They are in your ward. They represent you in your city council. This is the closest level of government. The sphere of government that is closest to the voter.”

Willie Spies, the FF Plus’ mayoral candidate in Tshwane. (Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)

(Photo: Tania Heyns/Maroela Media)

In Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis of the DA helped an 83-year-old voter to register for the very first time on Saturday. (Photo: Provided)

Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa was in Ekurhuleni, among others, on Saturday. (Photo: ANC/X)

Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa was in Ekurhuleni, among others, on Saturday. (Photo: ANC/X)

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