The leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in KwaZulu-Natal, Francois Rodgers, and Msunduzi councillors welcomed more than 100 former African National Congress (ANC) members to the party at the weekend.

It includes a former ANC councillor, Thami Sithole, who was previously the branch secretary in the Moses Mabhida region.

Rodgers said it boosted the party's quest to wrestle the province from the ANC, via a cooperation plan with the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), in the 2024 general elections.

"The ANC has systematically collapsed the Msunduzi municipality. With a proven track record, the DA is the only alternative that can save this municipality," Rodgers said.

"More and more South Africans are uniting behind the DA and rejecting the uncaring government of the ANC."

The IFP and the DA have been plotting to dethrone the ANC in the province amid several governance issues.

The two parties recently agreed to terms on a "service delivery pact", and the relationship has developed into a "cooperation agreement".

"It's a sign of change and people are seeing the possibility of change in 2024, with the cooperation of the IFP and the DA," Rodgers told News24.

He has scheduled a meeting with community and traditional leaders in Table Mountain, outside Pietermaritzburg, during which the party was expected to announce another 60 more ANC members.

Sithole, who had been an ANC councillor from 2016 to 2021, said: "We joined the DA because - as the majority in Ward 17 - we were advised by community members that the DA is the only option as the ANC didn't deliver its promise."

He said they studied the DA's constitution and made the decision.

"Where the DA has been given an opportunity to lead, they tend to lead well. We've seen it in the uMngeni Local Municipality as well as the Western Cape governments," said Sithole.

"As a person who believes that we should put people first, I had to consider a lot of things. But it was the people who were showing the way. That made it easy for me."