Leaked complaints and rivalries highlight tensions within the DA’s Ekurhuleni caucus as members vie for influence ahead of elections.
Senior DA officials and public representatives have dismissed claims of ructions in the DA’s Ekurhuleni caucus as election jitters and competitive behaviour between councillors, candidates, and activists.
This, after several party members and public representatives contacted The Citizen with complaints, claims, and internal digs never intended for public consumption, but leaked nonetheless.
None of the complainants wanted to be named due to the upcoming candidate evaluations and selection in Ekurhuleni for the municipal elections and the DA federal congress.
Internal disputes and complaints
Allegations between activists who support a sitting ward councillor and a candidate vying to contest the election in their place on behalf of the DA have reached fever pitch.
The current councillor claimed the candidate has been interfering with the machinations of their ward, to the point of hiring armed security personnel to prevent the councillor from entering parts of her ward.
It goes further. The councillor has applied for a protection order against the candidate. This, while claiming that DA structures have not intervened.
ALSO READ: Anger at long blackouts across Pretoria
Another DA councillor in Ekurhuleni spoke of divides between two so-called “cabals” in the caucus and joined the aforementioned in filing two separate complaints with the now former speaker.
The first councillor alleged she had been subjected to sustained harassment, defamation, intimidation, and emotional abuse for two years, which she claimed had intensified during the election year. She said repeated attempts to seek help from the party and municipal leadership had produced no intervention or response.
A raft of WhatsApp messages on an internal DA group between the ward councillor and their caucus colleagues, seen by The Citizen, showed a measure of tension in the ranks.
WhatsApp messages show tension in ranks
And the sitting councillor’s opponent has started fringe social media groups to segue community issues to him, while allegedly sharing disparaging messages about them.
Former Ekurhuleni speaker Dora Mlambo, who vacated her office at the end of February after only a month in the hot seat, did not respond to questions from The Citizen.
However, she shared the confidential correspondence with other DA party members, which has resulted in disciplinary action against at least one of the complaining councillors.
ALSO READ: Health department sets record straight: Odi District Hospital still running, suppliers remain
A third councillor approached The Citizen and said they were wrongly accused of misallocation of donor funds, allegedly by a convicted fraudster.
The allegations were later neutralised by the donor, who wrote to the party structures.
The councillor said it was too late, as the DA’s internal disciplinary process had already ruled against them. In addition, they said it seemed to be one of the first acts by the same cabal that the other councillors referred to.
‘People jockeying for positions’
However, a senior party source said the tensions should be seen in the context of internal congress processes and candidate positioning ahead of the next election cycle, when competition for positions intensifies.
According to the source, such periods typically expose underlying rivalries and personal ambitions, rather than deeper organisational crises.
“Every time there’s a congress or leadership contest, people start jockeying for positions, and fault lines that normally sit quietly in the background suddenly come to the surface,” the insider said.
ALSO READ: Gauteng’s housing crisis: Department fires back at DA over failed land programme
The source added that the stakes at the regional level are often relatively modest, but ambitions can still run high among candidates hoping to build political profiles or advance their careers in the party.
Despite the internal disputes, the source insisted the broader party machinery continues operating largely as normal.
The DA did not formally respond to queries.