Another young Jews is heading for Parliament

ANT KATZ

The DA, who were first out of the starting blocks in naming their list of candidates for Parliament ahead of this year’s elections, has named Darren Bergman at number 12 on the Gauteng parliamentary list (there are 22 DA Gauteng MPs at present).

Based on the numbers in the complicated formula between the national and provincial lists, Darren  was a shoe-in .

As the enigmatic Councillor who took the “challenging” Ward 32 in the City of Johannesburg municipal elections from the ANC in the last election, Darren has been able to create a multiparty Ward Committee that is extremely functional.

Ward 32 includes some troublesome areas such as Alexandra, Klipfonteinview, Greenstone and Modderfontein. He says he is likely the only councillor in the country where his EFF colleagues refer to him as: “My Leader”, and ANC members of the Ward Committee sent him a Christmas card. One ANC Ward Committee member even refers to him as “My mentor”.

The Ward Committee started out as very political, says Darren, but they have developed into a well-oiled team. “I have often called on and used my non-DA colleagues in times of trouble,” he says, and they are always there for him.

Now, Bergman wants to take what he believes is a successful model on bigger scale – nationally. And, clearly, his DA colleagues want him to as well.

Predictions for the upcoming election

Before the May 7 poll, Darren told the JR that the DA was pulling all the stops to unseat the ANC from the head of the Gauteng Legislature. “We are going to make a go for it, we’re going all out,” he says.

While he believes the ANC may poll the most votes, he feels certain that they will not win a majority. (In the end the ANC got some 53 per cent of the Gauteng vote.)

Bergman predicted that Julius Malema’s fledgling EFF “can win as many as 10 per cent” of the votes in Gauteng. “These would come directly off the ANC,” he says.

Where he plans to live

Asked (before the election) if he and his family (which recently grew by one) would relocate to Cape Town if he wins a seat in Parliament, Darren said he would not.

“I would spend time in Cape Town,” he explains, “but my constituency is in Gauteng and Gauteng-based.” He told JR that he would likely spend three days a week for 33 weeks of the year in Cape Town.

Bergman has served as a City Councillor since 2000. “They have been 14 good years,” he told SAJR Online.