DA's Ivan Meyer fires back at McKenzie: 'We're not in ICU, we're alive in polls'

Dr Ivan Meyer, the Federal Chairperson of the DA, has strongly rebutted the claims made by Patriotic Alliance (PA) President Gayton McKenzie, saying that the “DA is in ICU.”

Hot on the heels of winning two by-elections, McKenzie gushed about his party’s performance to Newsday at the sidelines of the State of the Nation Address (SONA).

“We are the fastest-growing political party in the country. Not on polling, polling is for strippers. In three weeks, we won three wards in the Western Cape. In the Western Cape, the DA’s time is over. The DA is in ICU,” said McKenzie.

In the George Local Municipality in the Garden Route, the PA has won five by-elections this year, three of which are former DA stronghold wards.

On Sunday, the PA’s spokesperson, Steve Motale, added: “We are attacking George, Saldanha and Drakenstein, we will turn our full attention to the City of Cape Town.

“The DA is alive in polls but in ICU on the ground. DA being in ICU on the ground means its support is dwindling, making it irrelevant to voters, something that will condemn the party into extinction.”

Meyer, fresh off the DA’s Mpumalanga Provincial Congress on Saturday, said that the Democratic Alliance is alive and well, and that they will demonstrate that in the election later this year.

“We have recently lost two wards, that is correct, but we've also won two wards again. And if you look at what is happening, for example, in Mpumalanga, we won two wards from the ANC,”  Meyer said.

“Our mission for this local government election is to rescue our towns. It breaks my heart when I see… and I was in Mpumalanga yesterday, many of those towns have no water.

“In Johannesburg, people are without water for three weeks. That is a government and a party in ICU,” Meyer said.

“In the Western Cape, we have clean access to water. We have clean access to a refuse collection and electricity provision. I think I'm not going to listen to Gayton, but I am going to listen to the president. The president says, where the DA govern, you get the best service delivery.

“But if you don't want to believe the president, look at what Stats SA says. Stats SA, independently, verified the data across South Africa, and they measured four things: access to water, sanitation, refuse collection and electricity. Those independent reports, as well as the independent report from Ratings Africa and from the Auditor-General, provide clear confirmation.

“That the DA has the best-run municipalities in South Africa. Talk of ICU contradicts the president, it contradicts the auditor general, but also Stats SA. So I think if I put all those independent reports next to the story of Gayton McKenzie, the overwhelming evidence suggests that he is wrong,” Meyer said.

Meyer added that they are still busy with interviews for several other mayoral candidates in the province, and that they “will roll it out as we go”.

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