Politics

Gabrielle Maritz: The EFF Candidate Hoping to Change the Perception of the Party in Cape Town

Published 23 Oct 2026 at 12:05 PM

by Byron Pillay

3 min read

Gabrielle Maritz, originally from Pretoria, is running as the Economic Freedom Fighters councillor candidate for Ward 61 in Cape Town
Maritz, who identifies as anti-capitalist, joined the EFF a year ago and says some Afrikaans neighbours have embraced her campaign
She also addressed claims that she is seen as a "race traitor" by a section of the Afrikaans community for joining the party

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Byron Pillay, a Briefly News journalist, has spent a decade reporting on South Africa's political landscape, crime, and social issues. He worked as a newspaper journalist for 10 years before transitioning to online journalism.

WESTERN CAPE — Gabrielle Maritz is running as the Economic Freedom Fighters' councillor candidate for Ward 61 in Cape Town, a coastal stretch covering Glencairn to Kommetjie — and her candidacy is drawing attention well beyond the ward's borders.

Maritz, who matriculated from Hoër Skool Overkruin in Pretoria in 2002, now lives with her wife and seven-year-old daughter on the coastline between Simon's Town and Fish Hoek.

What Maritz wants for Ward 61

In an interview with the Daily Maverick, Maritz listed restoring a voice for the LGBTQIA community and improving service delivery for vulnerable residents, including the elderly and homeless, as her primary motivations for standing.

On housing and informal settlements, she outlined the EFF's ward-level approach.

"The EFF, our policy in any ward where we are voted in, is to immediately do land audits to see where we can make better use of land and where we can potentially build housing for people.

"In the places where we already have informal settlements, it's about restoring dignity. So no pit toilets, making sure as many people as possible can get electricity. And obviously looking at waste collection," she said.

She also defended the party against its critics.

"A lot of things have been said about the EFF. But if you go and you read the manifesto properly, it speaks about once we've redressed the past, once we've managed to have a more equitable system... At that point we don't need to perpetuate racial classifications; then we can live in a truly nonracial society," she told Daily Maverick.

Bridging the gap between the EFF and Afrikaans voters

Maritz acknowledged that her candidacy has divided opinion within Afrikaans communities, and addressed whether more would vote for the party.

"I don't know, we'll have to see, because Afrikaans people have been scared of the EFF. Yet, some of my neighbours don't mind, and some of them even help me," she noted.

She added that certain Afrikaans demographics despise her because of her party allegiance, explaining that some people viewed her as a race traitor.

How did South Africans react to the news?

Reactions to her candidacy on social media were mixed.

Roland Dirr asked:

"Karl Niehaus's daughter, this one?"

Mervyn Karamitas wrote:

"Why people support the EFF is beyond me!"

Bradley Ruiters wrote:

"Fabulous news. South African patriot❤️."

Radiant Divine Flower said:

"She is incredible. If she were in my ward, she would have my vote."

Hilton van Niekerk said:

"Progress towards a non-racial society. All the best, Gabrielle. Live your constitutional democracy. It is your right to choose and associate with a political party of your choice. As it is the right of those considered "non-white" to join the Freedom Front Plus, as bizarre as it would appear to some."