By-elections a tough battle for COPE

WITH less than a week to go before two Nelson Mandela Bay by-elections, COPE leaders, in a last-minute dash, were erecting election posters yesterday after they had allegedly been stolen from lampposts.

The party has fielded Anita Koopman-Smith, 47, and Margaret Befile, 69, to contest Wednesday's Ward 10 and Ward 40 by-elections, respectively.

The vacancies were created when former DA Ward 40 councillor Vicky Knoetze and her Ward 10 counterpart, Marshall von Buchenroder, became MPLs after the May 7 elections.

Koopman-Smith said although Ward 10 – which comprises sections of Korsten, Schauderville and Gelvandale – was a DA stronghold, she hoped the fact that she was well known in the community would carry enough clout to clinch the electorate for COPE.

In the 2011 local government election, the DA won with an overwhelming majority of 87.52% followed by the ANC with 7.95%. COPE only managed a meagre 0.82%. - Rochelle de Kock