Tertuis Simmers says there is no bad blood between him and Bonginkosi Madikizela, following a tightly-contested Democratic Alliance Western Cape congress in which he won by 549 votes.
Simmers is the new DA leader in the Western Cape following the party’s elections that were held at the weekend. Madikizela received 35.5 percent of the votes, while Simmers got 64.5 out of 851 delegates.
Simmers says: “I am his leader. He will now have to follow the leader; that is how it works. What will happen now is that the leadership has been elected, which I lead, and he [Madikizela] is an activist.
“He will now become part of our team of activists that will go to the ground and work among our people. There’s no bad blood, but there’s discipline and discipline is to follow your leader.”
He said the focus of the DA is to take over the national government in the 2024 elections and to retain the Western Cape.
Simmers says: “It is not an overstatement to say that 2024 will see us in a fight for our very lives and for the lives of all who live in the Western Cape and South Africa.”
Madikizela said the delegates expressed their wishes and that he respects that decision: “We now all rally behind the elected leadership and work hard for a decisive DA victory in 2024.”
In addition, Geordin Hill-Lewis has been elected uncontested as the provincial deputy leader; and Jaco Londt as the provincial chairperson, also uncontested.
body copy_bold: The three deputy chairpersons are Anroux Marais, Carl Pophaim and Zimkhitha Silelu.