Eastern Cape Congress 2026
My fellow democrats.
Today, we come together as the DA Eastern Cape family. And whilst there is much reflect on, I wish to express to this Provincial Congress how profoundly proud I am of our DA team in the Eastern Cape, and all that we have achieved together over the last three years.
The time allotted to me today will not be sufficient to report on everything done in our province. I will therefore be providing a high-level overview of our performance as a Province and will include key developments and achievements during our term of office.
I would though like to assure the Provincial Congress that I have made it a point, to report directly and in detail, to every meeting of the Provincial Executive Committee and every Provincial Council, bodies elected by Congress. And if that isn’t could enough, I will submit to Congress exhibit A (take off cap), which is my hair loss which has taken place over the last three years. I have invited Retief Odendaal to accompany me on a trip to Turkey for a hair transplant procedure, he has however unfortunately declined my invitation.
My Fellow Democrats…
We emerged from our last Congress in Graaf Reinet in 2023, in the wake of our worst electoral result since 2009, having received 226 189 votes on the PR ballot in the 2021 general elections.
Since then, we have worked hard to implement the vision outlined by our Provincial Leader, Andrew Whitfield, of building a high-performance team in the Eastern Cape which will excel at the campaign priorities outlined by our Federal Leader, John Steenhuisen, which are the ABCs
A for Activism
B for strong Branches; and
C for Canvassing
Our Provincial Leader further expanded these priorities and added the letter D
For Driving Issues that matter to our communities.
Our Provincial Leader also committed to investing deliberately into our constituencies in the Rural parts of our province.
This commitment was kicked off through the National Cost of Living March held in Butterworth on the 4th of October 2023, which was followed by the Crime Awareness Launch in Mthatha, one day later.
We thereafter launched two election billboards in Mthatha on the 6th of March 2024. This marked the first ever billboards erected by the DA in the far East of our province.
As The election 2024 Provincial Campaign manager, I can also confirm to this Congress that the resources allocated deliberately to our constituencies in our rural areas, exceeded the resources allocated in any previous election campaign. Furthermore, our Provincial Leader deliberately spent more time in the campaign in these constituencies, compared to previous Provincial Leaders, in previous election campaigns.
Democrats, in pursuit of our mission to develop a high performance team in our province, I am proud of the work done to grow our young leaders and capacitate our staff.
Laphumilanga Young Leaders Programme
- Following a seven-year hiatus, the Laphumilanga Young Leaders Programme was revived.
- Despite operating within significant budget constraints, the programme was delivered professionally, ensuring the successful facilitation of contact sessions.
- Since its revival, two cohorts have successfully graduated from the Laphumilanga Young Leaders Programme.
- I would like Congress to appreciate the work done by the Laphumilanga Leadership Team during this period which consisted of Annette Lovemore, Rene Meyer, Kabelo Mogatosi, Bobby Stevenson, Jo Gene Straus, Samantha Graham-Maré, Jane Cowley, Elmarie Botha and myself. I specifically would like to appreciate the dedication and sacrifices made by Annette and Rene, who worked tirelessly to make the Programme the success that it was.
Accelerated Management Programme
- In 2023, Our Provincial Director, Elmarie Botha, launched a first-of-its kind Accelerated Management Programme for staff.
- Through a structured selection process, staff members are enrolled and provided with training to strengthen their management capabilities.
- It ensures that we are able to promote within our own ranks and that we can upskill staff members across the province.
- Since its inception, three cohorts have successfully completed the Accelerated Management Programme.
Furthermore, under the leadership of our Provincial Training Chairperson, Samantha Graham Mare, Constituency Training Champions benefitted from a master facilitation workshop held here in Nelson Mandela Bay.
Our province has more recently had three Master Trainers selected by the FHO, these include Annette Lovemore, Marelene Ewers and Lemarc Stewart. Our Master Trainer have already been hard at work, preparing our constituencies for the 2026 Election Campaign.
Democrats, we must acknowledge that we cannot build a high-performance team without building trust. In this regard, I am proud to report to Congress that we have successfully implemented the adopted motion, which I tabled at the last Congress. This was the motion which sought to create a pathway for loyal activists of the DA to overcome the screening process when availing themselves to be a DA Aspirant Candidate. I would like to thank our representative on the FCEC, Dr Vicky Knoetze, who championed the necessary amendments to our provincial candidate selection regulations, as well as Annette Lovemore, who rolled out the training modules for aspirant candidates, which were a critical component in the implementation of the motion.
Furthermore, I would like to thank our Provincial Leader, Andrew Whitfield, whose principled leadership has created a culture of fairness internally in our province. The culture of any organisation is the shadow of its leader. We are truly blessed to have a leader who has ensured that our processes are fair and objective, and has actively worked to unite us under a common purpose.
My fellow Democrats, I will now reflect on our electoral results.
Having emerged from a bruising 2021 General Election, all of us can be proud of our efforts in the 2024 Election Campaign. Together, we grew the DA’s vote in the Eastern Cape from 226 189 (on the PR Ballot) in 2021 to 267 007 (on the Provincial Ballot) in 2024. This equated to an additional 40 818 voters voting for the DA in the last General Election.
This success has also replicated itself in By-elections. We remain a province which has not lost a single DA ward in a by-election during our term of office, and not only have we not lost a single DA ward, but we have also taken ward from the ANC in the Blue Crane Route Municipality where the people of Pearston elected Councillor Herbert Davenport. We have also grown the DA’s support in the ward 10 Makana by-election from 1.5% to 26.38%. Please join me in congratulating the Zuurberg and Frontier Constituencies who achieved these incredible results under the leadership of Horatio Hendricks and Jane Cowley.
Immediately after the 2024 election, we retained both wards 2 and 9 in Nelson Mandela Bay in by-elections that resulted in the elections of councillor Sean Tappen and Bernard Wolf.
We also came under threat in Ward 34 Nelson Mandela Bay and ward 2 Kouga where we successfully defended our wards, with our communities electing councillor Annelize Stanley and Bonita Moos.
I would like to at this point as Congress to recognise the incredible team effort from, not only the relevant constituencies, but also all of those constituencies that came in to fight these fierce battles. I would also like to thank Leander Kruger and John Best for going above and beyond in assisting me and our constituencies on the canvassing and GOTV technical aspects of these campaigns, which have been critical to their success.
We have also fought 4 highly contested by-elections in ANC wards in Koukamma, and the Koukamma team has fought hard under difficult conditions. As part of our commitment to service the people of Koukamma, our PEC resolved to create a stand-alone constituency for Koukamma, post the 2024 elections.
When putting together our constituencies after the 2024 Elections, the PEC also resolved to create two DASO constituencies in our province.
One of which, the DASO West Constituency, produced immediate results, winning back control of the Nelson Mandela University SRC in October 2024, with Lathitha Mbuzwana elected as the SRC President. We are proud of the work done by the DASO West Constituency under the leadership of Baxolile Nodada and the elected SRC. Their tireless efforts in serving the students of NMU and championing their issues led to them being victorious again in a landslide victory in the elections late last year, achieving the highest electoral victory by DASO and NMU ever.
Our success in student politics has also extended to the Grootfontein Agricultural College, where DASO won the elections in 2024, electing Kuhle Lelaphi as their SRC President. They followed this up with another victory in the election last year, where they retained their majority on the SRC.
Please join me in congratulating the team in the EC Midlands Constituency under the leadership of Heinrich Muller, and my Deputy Chairperson responsible for ancillary organisations, Monde Desha, as well as the DASO team at Grootfontein.
My Fellow Democrats,
Together WE have gotten the DA in the Eastern Cape working.
Our Structures are at their strongest, thanks to YOUR hard work. There is no DA without our dedicated members and activists who are committed to rescuing their communities.
At the beginning of last year, we tasked our Provincial Campaigns Manager, Caydon Roach, to conceptualise a membership recruitment campaign that will grow and strengthen our structures. We thereafter embarked on the most comprehensive recruitment campaign that I have ever been a part of. Together we were able to grow our membership to 5 times what it was at the time.
As a province, we are indeed working, and this extends to our Provincial Caucus in the Eastern Cape legislature led by Dr Vicky Knoetze who has notably embarked on the small towns tour during the 2024 elections campaign, has also visited 12 of our 18 constituencies during the Bhisho caucus tour and has rolled out a jobs connect programme, assisting young people in our province.
We now also own two branded battle bakkies, a fully kitted out stage trailer, a billboard trailer and a podcast studio.
We are warming up and we ready to get our province working!
My fellow democrats it is important to remind ourselves of what we are fighting for. Especially now, where the truth has become the first casualty in the electoral battle ahead of us. Our opponents are pathological compulsive liars. They will say anything, just so that thy can get access to loot the resources of governments whilst our communities suffer. You will hear every kind of lie in the campaign ahead. What is important is that we do not shy away from the battled ahead. All it takes for evil to success, is for good people to remain silent. Don’t remain silent! Stand strong, even when there are people who gave believed these lies are attacking you, remain patient keep spreading the truth.
What makes it worse is that our opponents know they are lying and yet they will lie anyway. As an example, we have hard working ward councillors who have been hung out to dry by collapsing municipalities. Our opponents are the ones who are in government of these municipalities and are the ones who have collapsed service delivery. They know that ward councillors don’t run the departments that are failing our residents and yet they will, with a straight face, blame them anyway.
We must never lose sight of what we are fighting for and I am going to close with two examples.
The first is the DA governed Kouga municipality under Mayor Hattingh Bornman and his team. When the DA took over that municipality it was the second worse run municipality in the province. Kouga is now the best run municipality in the province with consecutive clean audits, the cleanest water, a 24 hour joint operations centre, drones as a first responder to emergencies… and the list goes on and on.
The second example right here in Nelson Mandela Bay. Retief Odendaal, who was the Mayor for only 8 months, is the only Mayor to have produced a clean audit in this city. He started getting this city working and as soon as he announced an investigation into corruption in the electricity department, the smaller parties were mobilised to remove him.
The last example is a GNU example:
And it is about one of our councillors in the Alfred Nzo Constituency: Cllr Nozipiwo Mantshongo
Born and raised in a part of our province in Mount Aylif called Kwawela-Kabini (cross twice),
Where here people were dying trying to cross the Tebe-tebe make-shift bridge and their coffins were also ironically being taken over the same bridge in which they died trying to cross.
Nozi and her constituency started driving this issue since 2019 when the ANC still had a national majority government
The ANC told her in 2021 that she is dreaming, she will never get this bridge sorted
She launched a petition, wrote to the mayor, marched to the district office…
Her Constituency Leader asked questions in Parliament, did members statements, wrote to the president, held 18 community meetings.
Nozi finally asked two families who were burying their children, can she please do something that has never been done and may appear inappropriate, she asked to take a video of the tiny coffins crossing over this bridge, so that she can show the world that the ANC does not care whether our children live or die over the bridge. They said to her, Nozi, we know you, we trust you, you are one of us, and they were willing to sacrifice their sacred pain of burying their children who died over this make-shift bridge in order to ensure that no other parent would have to suffer the same pain. That video was the catalyst that got the country to sit up and listen, – the whole country started for the first time, paying attention and took the 3 hour drive on gravel road from the N2 to her community in ward 6 in Umzimvubu. Officials, Politicians and the media alike.
And yet still, despite all of this attention, Akhona goghela (a breadwinner in her family, another young soul) lost her life trying to cross this bridge.
After the DA went into the GNU, Cllr Matshongo and her Constituency Leader worked with the DA Minister of Public Works, Minister Dean Mcfearson and within 10 months, a new bridge was built that can also accommodate vehicles like ambulances, police vehicles and mobile clinics.
I will never forget being approached by ANC MPLs in Bhisho telling me that the DA has now finished the ANC with this issue.
Let us carry this spirit of Nozi with us as as we work together to get our province working.
This year, the year 2026, is also a significant year for me personally. Having joined the DA 18 years ago, when I was just 18 years old, I have now spent half of my life as part of this family. In that time, I have campaigned in all nine provinces and can testify that there is truly something special about what we have built in the Eastern Cape.
I count myself blessed to be part of the DA family in the Eastern Cape and I would like to sincerely thank all of you, my DA family, for making our Province, a force to be reckoned with.