EFF councillor in Cape Town joins the DA

CAPE TOWN - In a first in the City of Cape Town, an Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) councillor has jumped ship to join the Democratic Alliance (DA).

Lungiswa Ntshuntshe has on Tuesday been welcomed to the party by Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

Her defection comes just a month after the African National Congress’ former caucus leader, Banele Majingo, joined the party ahead of a crucial council meeting to consider the city’s budget.

"We are grateful as the EFF that after all the infiltration of the DA, none has impacted the EFF," said EFF councillor Mzubanzi Dambuza.

He was speaking at a city council meeting on 25 March when the ANC was thrown into disarray by the its caucus leader abandoning his team.

But the red berets have now befallen a similar fate, with proportional representative councillor Ntshuntshe ditching the fighters for the ruling blue party, after becoming a city councillor in 2021.

In a video shared by Hill-Lewis, he and mayoral committee member JP Smith are seen welcoming Ntshuntshe, saying she will be an asset to service delivery.

"It’s exactly why I’m leaving the EFF so that I can contribute better and joining the da because they do have the resources, they do care, they do want to do more. And I’ve seen them do this. That’s why I’m here."

In 2023, GroundUp reported that Ntshuntshe had come under attack from angry backyarders near Mandela Park in Khayelitsha after she filmed them demolishing shacks.