By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Image: US Embassy South Africa.
Former Cape Town mayor and MEC for community safety, Dan Plato, has left the Democratic Alliance (DA) to join the newly formed, People’s Movement for Change (PMC).
PMC leader Marius Fransman announced that Plato would join his new party, with another seasoned politician formerly from the DA, Ayesha Abrahams.
Last month, Fransman announced that the PMC would be contesting the general elections.
“We are delighted to welcome Dan Plato to the PMC family. Our party stands as a home for the poor, working, and middle class, and we unapologetically advocate for a free and liberated Palestine,” he said.
Plato who was a DA Member of the Pronvncial Legislature in the Western Cape said the party’s losing its identity as a political home for the poor and working class.
He also accused the DA of stifling voices that did not align with a certain cabal.
Plato further expressed disappointment with the DA’s position on suppressing pro-Palestine voices within the party.
Party provincial leader Tertuis Simmers has welcomed Plato’s resignation.
“The DA notes the resignation of Dan Plato as member of the Western Cape provincial Parliament and member of the DA. We thank him for his years of service, both to the DA, and at different levels of government.
PMC could be a serious contender in the upcoming elections, especially in the Western Cape. Nceba Enge, the Western Cape deputy chairperson of the SA National Taxi Council, serves as the party’s secretary-general.
Enge was a member of the Alliance for Transformation for All (ATA), a political organisation founded in 2018 to lobby for the interests of the taxi industry. The ATA failed to gain any seats in the 2019 general elections.