By-election posters get stolen

Frantic political rivalry exposed its ugly face in the stealing of posters in the run-up to the by-elections in three Pretoria wards.

After Adriana Randall, councillor for ward 52, was elected to represent the DA in the Gauteng provincial legislature, this ward became vacant.

Ward 58 also became vacant after Sam Moimane caused a stir in April’s monthly council meeting when he defected to the ANC, claiming that the DA’s refusal to adopt the councils’ integrated development plans dictated his move to a new alliance.

The ward 28 vacancy came about with its councillor, Lasarus Mashabela, being jailed for three years after he was found guilty of corruption and fraud by selling RDP houses allocated to people not earmarked to receive it.

All political parties are vigorously campaigning to get their candidate of choice elected in the vacant wards. And with disappearing posters in ward 58, Marietha Aucuamp, the DA’s campaign manager, said it is exposing some contenders as insecure and oblivious of what a free and fair election entails.

According to the DA candidate in the ward 58 by-election, Elma Nel, just about all the DA posters in Capital Park were stolen last week. Ironically, not a single ANC poster had been removed from the poles. ”A mature multiparty democracy has no place for political thuggery,” she said, and called on all contenders in the by-election to abide by the rules and the law in general.

Aucamp added: ”You can steal the posters of your opponents but you cannot steal the election result on 28 May when the will of the people will be announced after the votes have been counted.”