Gabrielle Maritz runs for EFF in Cape Town’s Ward 61 — Daily Maverick
In Cape Town, South Africa, Gabrielle Maritz is running for the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party as councillor for Ward 61 ahead of the 2026 municipal elections. The ward covers the city’s southern coast from Glencairn to Kommetjie.
As Daily Maverick reports, 42-year-old Maritz lives in southern Cape Town with her wife and seven-year-old daughter. She joined the EFF a year ago and said that she initially saw herself as more of an activist than a politician.
Campaign priorities
On her campaign page, Maritz listed strengthening the voice of the LGBTQIA community among her priorities, as well as ensuring quality services for ward residents, including older people and homeless people. She said she aims to build a connection between the EFF and people who had not previously considered voting for the party.
Maritz describes herself as an anti-capitalist and said that after overcoming South Africa’s historical inequality, the country can become a truly non-racial society. She also said she does not want to reduce people to demographic categories, although she acknowledged the negative reaction from some Afrikaans-speaking residents to her joining the EFF.
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Housing, fires and baboons
The candidate spoke about the problems of the informal settlements of Ocean View and Red Hill in her ward, as well as Masiphumelele in neighbouring Ward 69. She said that a wildfire destroyed her family’s mobile home on a farm near the Portuguese city of Fundão, after which the family decided to return to South Africa.
According to Maritz, EFF policy if elected provides for land audits to identify plots potentially suitable for housing construction. For existing informal settlements, she said it is important to phase out pit latrines, expand access to electricity and arrange waste collection.
Maritz also criticised the keeping of baboons in enclosures on Cape Town’s southern peninsula. In her view, other solutions must be sought to protect the animals as part of the local wildlife.
