The ANC and the DA in Gauteng are squaring up for a fight for control of three top municipalities - Johannesburg, Tshwane, and Midvaal - ahead of the municipal elections in May.
The ANC in Gauteng has denied claims by the DA that it ferried people from Johannesburg to register to vote in neighbouring Midvaal.
Speaking to journalists at press conferences in Johannesburg yesterday, the ANC and the DA took jabs at each other in what is expected to be an intense political fight.
Shortly before the DA's lunchtime press conference, James Lorimer, the party's parliamentary spokesman on co-operative governance and traditional affairs, said: "The ANC in Gauteng says it is trying to take over Midvaal 'democratically and fairly'. This is not true. What it is has done is bus in people from outside Midvaal and register them under false addresses, creating 'ghost voters'."
The ANC's provincial secretary, David Makhura, said the claims by Lorimer were baseless.
He said that in the past farm workers in Midvaal had been prevented from registering by their employers .
He claimed that the DA wanted to keep Midvaal "white".
The DA yesterday announced its mayoral candidates for the Johannesburg and Tshwane metros.
For Johannesburg, Mmusi Maimane, described as a young, talented individual, has been nominated.
The DA named its caucus leader, Brandon Topham, as its candidate in Tshwane.
Topham is expected to square up against current Tshwane mayor Sputla Ramokgopa, who took over from his aunt, Gwen Ramokgopa, after President Jacob Zuma reshuffled his cabinet late last year.
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