By Bongani Mdakane
Bongani@sundayworld.co.za
DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis has appealed to South Africans to give his party an outright mandate to govern municipalities in the November local government elections, arguing that councils need stable administrations free from political bargaining, patronage and failing service delivery.
Launching the DA’s 2026 municipal election manifesto yesterday in Newtown, Johannesburg, Hill-Lewis said the party wanted voters to give it sufficient support to govern and implement its programme without depending on unstable governing arrangements.
He said the DA wanted municipalities to become institutions that worked so reliably that residents did not have to organise their daily lives around government failure. “Your municipality should be the least dramatic part of your day,” he said.
Hill-Lewis, who is also Cape Town mayor, presented the election as a choice between what the DA describes as professional municipal government and a system weakened by political appointments, corruption and poor financial management.
He directed much of his attack at the ANC, accusing it of using municipal employment to reward politically connected people. Hill-Lewis promised that municipalities governed by the DA would appoint officials according to competence.
He said engineers and other qualified professionals should be placed in charge of infrastructure and municipal administration, with officials held accountable when they fail to perform.
“Under the DA, public money is never party money,” Hill-Lewis said. “Every rand collected for water will be protected for water. Every rand collected for electricity will be protected for electricity.”
The party also promised greater transparency in procurement, improved billing systems and stronger consequences for corruption.
But his central argument was that voters should judge the DA on its existing record rather than its promises alone.
He pointed to DA-run Midvaal Local Municipality and contrasted it with the ANC-led City of Johannesburg and Emfuleni Local Municipality.
“We are not guessing about how to make your town and city work. We have done it,” Hill-Lewis said.
- DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis launched the party’s 2026 municipal election manifesto in Newtown, Johannesburg, appealing for an outright mandate to govern municipalities.
- Hill-Lewis emphasized the need for stable municipalities without political bargaining, patronage, and failing service delivery.
- He accused the ANC of using municipal employment to reward politically connected individuals and promised DA-run municipalities would appoint officials based on competence.
- The DA pledged transparency in procurement, improved billing systems, and stronger consequences for corruption, with a commitment to protect public funds for their intended purposes.
- Hill-Lewis highlighted the DA's successful record in Midvaal Local Municipality as a contrast to ANC-run municipalities like Johannesburg and Emfuleni.
