GQEBERHA, Monday 28 September 2026 — Former Democratic Alliance MP and councillor Renaldo Gouws will contest Nelson Mandela Bay’s newly redrawn Ward 5 for the Freedom Front Plus against DA candidate Daron Mann, setting up a direct contest between the former allies in a ward encompassing much of the metro’s beachfront and tourism precinct.
Gouws previously represented parts of the area as the DA councillor for the former Ward 2 before briefly serving in Parliament following the 2024 national election.
Mann, a former Algoa FM broadcaster, is contesting his first municipal election for the DA.
The redrawn ward stretches from Russell Road and City Hall through Central, South End, Forest Hill, Humerail and Humewood to the beachfront and parts of Summerstrand.
It incorporates prominent municipal and tourism assets including the Donkin Reserve, Opera House, Main Library, Happy Valley and sections of Gqeberha’s beachfront.
Gouws returns to municipal politics with FF Plus
Gouws spent six years as a DA ward councillor before being elected to the National Assembly in 2024.
The DA terminated his membership later that year after an old video containing racist remarks resurfaced following his swearing-in as an MP.
Gouws subsequently apologised for the video as part of a settlement reached with the South African Human Rights Commission.
He later joined the Freedom Front Plus and announced his return to active politics.
His candidacy in Ward 5 now places him against his former party in an area that includes communities he previously represented as a DA councillor.
Gouws focuses campaign on tourism precinct
Gouws has placed the condition of Nelson Mandela Bay’s beachfront and tourism infrastructure at the centre of his ward campaign.
He said improving safety would require greater metro police visibility and pointed to the beachfront safety sector established during his previous term as a councillor.
He has also identified the condition of Happy Valley and other beachfront infrastructure as priorities.
Gouws said he would not seek another term as councillor if Happy Valley was not substantially restored during his term should he be elected.
He has also raised concerns about municipal spending in the ward and argues that its budget allocation should better reflect the revenue generated by residents and businesses.
Mann targets by-law enforcement and infrastructure
Mann has identified municipal by-law enforcement as one of his principal priorities.
He said abandoned and poorly maintained buildings in the ward illustrated weaknesses in enforcement and argued that property owners should be held accountable where municipal regulations are breached.
Mann has also focused on policing resources, broken streetlights and the condition of public infrastructure along the beachfront.
He supports DA mayoral candidate Retief Odendaal’s proposal to expand Nelson Mandela Bay’s metro police capacity.
Mann has also highlighted the prolonged closure of the Main Library in Central.
He said the DA would seek to reopen the historic facility within the first year of a new administration if the party takes control of the metro.
Service delivery dominates ward contest
The candidates are campaigning in an area affected by several long-running municipal problems.
These include sewage spills around Kings Beach, damaged infrastructure, broken streetlights, crime, homelessness and deterioration at some tourism facilities.
Both candidates have consequently placed municipal maintenance and public safety near the centre of their campaigns, although their proposed approaches differ.
Gouws has emphasised his previous experience as a ward councillor and existing knowledge of municipal structures.
Mann has presented his lack of previous political office as allowing him to enter council without existing political commitments while drawing on decades of involvement in local public issues through broadcasting.
Ward boundaries reshape beachfront contest
Boundary changes add another dimension to the race.
Parts of the former Ward 2 represented by Gouws have been incorporated into the new Ward 5, giving him previous political experience in sections of the constituency despite contesting under a different party.
The ward also combines residential neighbourhoods with some of Nelson Mandela Bay’s most visible tourism and heritage assets.
That means the councillor elected on 4 November will represent communities dealing with conventional ward-level service problems while also overseeing political representation for an area important to the metro’s visitor economy.
The contest forms part of the wider battle for Nelson Mandela Bay, where parties are campaigning to determine control of a council that has experienced repeated coalition changes since the ANC lost its majority in 2016.
The DA is contesting the election with former mayor Retief Odendaal as its mayoral candidate.
Former allies now compete for same ward
The Ward 5 contest brings together two candidates with established public profiles but different political backgrounds.
Gouws enters the election with previous municipal and parliamentary experience but is now asking voters who previously elected him as a DA representative to support him under the FF Plus banner.
Mann enters electoral politics after a long broadcasting career in Nelson Mandela Bay.
Their campaigns converge on several of the ward’s central problems — safety, infrastructure maintenance, municipal enforcement and the condition of the beachfront — while differing over which party should control the metro and how those problems should be addressed.
Voters will decide the ward contest on 4 November alongside the proportional representation ballot that will determine the broader composition of the Nelson Mandela Bay council.
