Right now, there’s plenty of noise around the way SA’s new political coalitions AREN’T working. Particularly in Gauteng where Gayton McKenzie’s Patriotic Alliance is shamelessly wielding its swing vote. This raises concerns about growing political instability after the 2024 National Election which is only 18 months away. But it’s not all bad news.
In Wednesday’s fiercely fought by-election in the small West Coast fishing town of Lambert’s Bay, a coalition between the DA, FF+ and local Cederberg Eerste parties saw off the challenge from McKenzie’s lot. The election was triggered after DA-elected councillor William Farmer switched to vote with the PA. He was the party’s candidate this week.
The three coalition parties agreed to avoid splitting their vote by getting behind the DA’s candidate John Hayes, a medical doctor who has practiced in the town for 35 years. This helped Hayes to comfortably defeat Farmer – enabling the coalition to re-take a grip on control of the Cederberg Municipality from the ANC/PA compact.
___STEADY_PAYWALL___Although Cederberg is a relatively small municipality, this by-election provided useful insights. For instance, it is now clear McKenzie’s party, while nominally against the ANC, will join with it should power be promised. As relevant, where coalitions are strong – as with the DA, FF+, CE alliance here – a united front can deliver winning results.
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A common trait among successful entrepreneurs is their good fortune in having started early. Few, however, kicked off as five year olds – the age at which Nthabiseng Sejake began helping in her mother’s spaza shop and tavern. Sejake honed used skills acquired as a pre-teen to develop B Evolusion, a fast-growing ‘backroom’ renting business in Soweto. She was identified by informal economy guru GG Alcock as epitomising this much misunderstood R20bn area which succeeds despite being starved of capital by SA’s formal banking sector. In this interview with Alec Hogg of BizNews, the budding property mogul shares her story – and dreams – and how, in four years, she has built a portfolio with dozens of quality apartments on three sites in Soweto. An inspirational story of a woman for whom the sky is surely the limit once scales lift from the collective eyes of SA’s financial institutions.
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