LOCAL ELECTIONS 2026 Q&A: DA sets sights on governance in 60 councils after November polls

The DA wants to become the largest party in Gauteng’s three metros and believes it has a chance of becoming part of government in 60 councils following the 4 November local elections.

Daily Maverick Associate Editor Ferial Haffajee speaks to DA’s federal council chairperson and head of elections, Ashor Sarupen, about the party’s early campaign start, its electoral targets, the battle for Gauteng’s metros, KwaZulu-Natal, voter fragmentation and the prospects for coalition reform before the 4 November local government election.

Ashor Sarupen: I think we had first-mover advantage. We were the first to launch, the first to get messaging out and the first to get posters up.

Our logistics planning was done a year and a half ago. I set the strategy in place in October 2024. We had our first strategic planning workshop for this election in October 2024. The billboards are out, and the radio ads started before the other parties had really got going.

One thing that surprised me was looking at the ANC’s manifesto launch last weekend versus the DA’s manifesto launch . Normally, ANC venues are packed to the rafters. Theirs was not. [The ANC manifesto launch was at a housing development in Diepsloot while the DA rallied to launch at Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, Johannesburg.]

No other party has done a big rally event yet. Normally, everybody is chasing their rallies. It has been interesting from that angle to see the scale of interest in the DA’s campaign.

FH: Which municipalities do you regard as the main battlegrounds and which are the beachheads?

AS: Obviously Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane. But there is a much bigger list. I have said publicly before that I think there are about 60 municipalities where the DA could end up in government. We are currently in government in about 27, so that would more than double our governance footprint.

There are also several municipalities where we could emerge as the largest party. In KwaZulu-Natal, uMhlathuze [Richards Bay] and KwaDukuza are possibilities because of the split in the vote. In Gauteng, Emfuleni will be an interesting battleground. On paper, demographically and otherwise, it should be very strong for the ANC, but I suspect the DA could do well there.

FH: You mentioned KwaZulu-Natal. The widespread expectation is that MK will do very well there. Do you agree?

AS: Obviously the MK party is going to do very well. Anyone who says they are not going to do well is foolish. But there are places in KwaZulu-Natal where you could end up with the DA on 30%, MK on 20%, the ANC on 15% and the IFP on 10%.

In those circumstances, you can put together coalition governments. There are two or three places where the DA might emerge as the largest party because of the split vote. It will also depend on turnout. In places like KwaDukuza and uMhlathuze, if our supporters turn out, there is a possibility that we could emerge as the largest party.

FH: Let’s turn to Johannesburg. Do you think Helen Zille could win an outright majority?

AS: This depends on turnout. If DA voters turn out, and if the swing vote we are anticipating materialises, we could get very close.