In a move signalling significant political shifts, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has welcomed several senior African National Congress (ANC) officials from the Western Cape, who resigned today citing the marginalization of Coloured communities within the ruling party.
The defectors include former ANC Provincial Secretary Neville Delport, regional executive member Jason Don, and ward councillors Daniel Baadjies (Bonteheuwel) and Paul Strauss (Cederberg). They announced their move to the DA at a public event, now clad in the party’s blue colours.
Delport, a prominent figure in the exodus, stated his resignation was the culmination of years of futile efforts to address grievances within the ANC’s structures. “For the last two or three days I did not consult any of my African comrades because I’ve been trying to raise the issue of the coloured question within the national executive committee,” Delport said. “There was no use for me to do some consultation because I’ve been raising these issues every time within the national executive committee.”
He articulated a widespread feeling among Coloured members that they are being sidelined, claiming the ANC has no interest in developing Coloured leaders. Delport also defended his move as principled, not transactional, revealing he had sacrificed a secure salary until after 2027 to join the DA.
DA Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille hailed the defections as evidence of a predicted national political “realignment.” “I argued [in 2012] that there would be a process of the disintegration of the ANC,” Zille stated, “with some of that party’s base coming to the Democratic Alliance and the other part going to the far left.”
The ANC in the Western Cape responded fiercely, dismissing the move as a “desperate” attempt by the DA to hide what it calls “racism” in the province. In a sharp rebuke, the provincial ANC accused the DA of scraping “the bottom of the ANC barrel for any scraps they can find in order to cling on to depleted relevancy.”
DA Western Cape Leader Tertius Simmers countered that his party does not entice members with offers, but is instead growing through a “values and principles based approach.” He contrasted this with what he termed a “transactional” norm in other political corridors.
The national office of the ANC also issued a statement, personally criticising Delport and accusing him of having a “regressive ideological posture based on apartheid classification.”
Undeterred, Delport suggested this is only the beginning, predicting a “raft of ANC councillors” are planning to exit the party over similar concerns about representation and inclusion.
