The two eThekwini metro councillors who jumped ship to the Democratic Alliance (DA) were deadwood who wanted to be re-elected to power but were rejected in their wards.

The ANC has said in the aftermath that David Ngubane, a councillor in eThekwini's ward 16 and Marco Mbambo of ward 8 joined the DA. The duo were unveiled on Tuesday morning by the blue party in Durban.

While the DA described the developments as a key shift and significant political alignment in the metro ahead of the 2026 elections, the ANC were quick to dismiss the assertion.

“ The ANC in eThekwini region notes the defection of two former councillors of the ANC to the Democratic Alliance. These two were recently rejected by their own communities in the candidate selection processes of the ANC,” asserted Thanduxolo Sabelo, the eThekwini regional coordinator.

Sabelo further stated that Mbambo had been expelled by the party for secretly campaigning for the DA.

“Expelled former councillor Marco Mbambo failed to meet the threshold to contest the community meeting organised by the ANC as the community of ward 8 clearly rejected his continued leadership. The ANC together with the community went on to nominate new candidates. Former councillor David Ngubane of ward 16 was also rejected by the community but desperately tried to cling on to power by appealing the processes; he was rejected again in the rerun process,” he said.

Sabelo said the DA had hastily convened the media briefing because the party knew that Ngubane was being investigated internally by the ANC.

“The real reason why these two traitors defected to the DA is not because they yearn to serve communities in their respective wards; they are desperately seeking employment as they will clearly be without deployment from the ANC in the coming months,” he said.

The eThekwini ward 16 is located in the outer west region of the metro covering mainly Pinetown and surrounding residential areas. On the other hand, ward 8 in the metro’s north west region covers areas such as Hillcrest and Embo.

The DA in KwaZulu-Natal has identified eThekwini, the only metro in the province, as their priority in the list of municipalities that the party is eyeing.

Sithembiso Ngema, the DA’s provincial leader, said the party expected more councillors from other parties to join their ranks. He said the latest defections augured well for their ambition to win the metro in the November polls.

“The decision to leave the ANC is a clear indication that the ANC in eThekwini has not only lost the trust of the voters; they have also lost the power of their internal structures. The DA continues to grow and we are well-positioned to attract more voters who align with our values of freedom, fairness, opportunity and diversity,” Ngema said.