Tertuis Simmers on George, Knysna and the Western Cape towns the DA wants back

With 23 days to go to the local government elections, the DA's Western Cape leader Tertuis Simmers sat down with Alec Hogg in Hermanus and drew a hard line. He said he would never govern with Gayton McKenzie's Patriotic Alliance, and described what he said he had seen with his own eyes during the by-elections that cost the DA three wards in George. He spoke about the 2024 building collapse in George that killed 34 people, why no one has yet been charged, and the one outstanding report he said is holding up the police. Simmers set out the party's battle plan town by town, from Knysna, which he called a blueprint for poor local government, to Bitou, where the DA has twice missed an outright majority by fewer than 30 votes. He also owned up to the biggest mistake of his ministerial career, and answered the question he said follows him everywhere: does he want to be the next premier?