Expelled DA councillor asks court to restore membership and protect Cape Town seat

DA Councillor Abdulkader Elyas lied about his qualifications.

Expelled Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor Abdulkader “AK” Elyas is asking the Western Cape High Court to restore his party membership and protect his Cape Town council seat, arguing that he was expelled over campaign roles the party had appointed him to perform.

Elyas is seeking an order reinstating his name on the DA’s proportional representation (PR) candidate lists for the current and incoming municipal council terms. He also wants the court to prevent the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) from filling vacancies linked to his positions while a judicial review is pending.

The dispute centres on the DA’s decision to terminate his membership after its internal disciplinary structures found that he had breached a disciplinary agreement by serving in campaign leadership roles.

The matter is expected to be heard on Monday.

Elyas was expelled after being found guilty on five charges relating to claims about qualifications he had not obtained, including a BCom in Economics with Finance and a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, in 2024.

In July, the DA’s Federal Legal Commission (FLC) ruled that Elyas had breached the party’s disciplinary agreement by serving as Ground War Lead/Manager for the DA’s Western Cape campaign team.

The party’s Federal Executive adopted the finding on 30 September, resulting in the termination of his membership.

Elyas argues that the campaign positions were appointments made by the party, rather than positions he had stood for or been elected to.

DA Federal Executive chairperson Ashor Sarupen said the party would oppose Elyas’s application.

“The Federal Legal Commission of the Democratic Alliance produced a report on matters pertaining to Mr Elyas. The FLC does its work independently. The FedEx adopted the report. Mr Elyas' membership was terminated upon adoption of the report. Such decisions are final, and no subsequent internal process exists,” Sarupen said.

He added that the party would not comment further while litigation was pending.

“As Mr. Elyas is pursuing imminent litigation, the DA reserves its rights and will not comment in any matter that may prejudice the legal proceedings.”

Elyas said he remained committed to the DA’s election campaign and would rejoin the party if the court ruled in his favour.

“My work for the DA in the election campaign speaks for itself. As deputy campaign manager in the City of Cape Town and Western Cape Ground will lead, I have been absolutely committed to the work. Those results are not in dispute,” he said.

“They officially gave me the role, I did the work, and then they ended my membership over the exact same work. It's a pity that the court will now have to decide on what could have been resolved internally. I trust that process and look forward to closing this matter.”

Former DA leader Dion George said the dispute had exposed what he described as a deep factional divide within the party.

“The fight in the Fedex was big over the AK dismissal. The election is in a few weeks, and the noise about AK - him admitting that he misrepresented his qualifications- was impacting voter sentiment, so it is messy,” George said.

“Voters intensely dislike internal fights - they don’t donate their money or go make crosses at the ballot to fuel internal power struggles,” he added.