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The DA has called on voters to fire the ANC and hire it instead. If things go according to plan, the hiring will happen in Nelson Mandela Bay, Tshwane and Johannesburg.
“This is your power in a democracy: the power to change things. The power to make things better than they are. The power to hire and fire politicians. You are the boss, not the Guptas,” party leader Mmusi Maimane told supporters.
It was lights, cameras, action as party leaders – with freshly made-up faces – danced on to the stage in front of what they said were 20 000 supporters at Johannesburg’s packed Rand Stadium. The entertainment was provided by top local artists, including Riky Rick, Liquideep, Kid X, Bucie and the latest Idols winner, Karabo Mogane.
Nelson Mandela Bay mayoral candidate Athol Trollip came on to Mi Casa’s Jika My Baby and addressed the crowd in isiXhosa, Afrikaans and English. He promised that, under the DA, the city would have effective Metro police.
Patricia de Lille, mayor and mayoral designate of the City of Cape Town, danced on to Mafikizolo’s Ndihamba Nawe before telling the crowd: “We don’t pretend to respect the Constitution and then break our promises to do so. We won’t lie to you.”
Brief addresses were given by mayoral candidates Solly Msimanga (Tshwane) and Ghaleb Cachalia (Ekurhuleni), and other party leaders Makashule Gana and John Moodey. Johannesburg mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba was caught up in China.
When Maimane’s turn came, it was politics American style, with blue confetti shot out of a machine while he strutted on to the stage.
“We [Cape Town] spent R3 billion on major road upgrades last year. The cities of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay together didn’t even spend one-sixth of this amount,” he boasted. “We fixed more than twice the number of potholes last year than the cities of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay put together. This is what good clean local governance is all about. This is the DA difference.”
Maimane addressed other urgent matters, including housing and service delivery.
“If you elect the DA in your metro, we will make public transport easier by introducing a single ‘smart’ ticket system so that commuters use just one ticket, be it for buses or taxis. If you elect the DA to govern your municipality, we will work hard to place housing developments close to education, to workplaces, to recreation facilities and to public transport.”
Maimane flowed from isiXhosa to Sesotho, English and Setswana, glancing at four well-placed teleprompters just off stage.
Taking a jab at Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema, he said: “When we take power, it will not be through the barrel of a gun. It will be the result of millions of South Africans coming together and casting their votes for change.”
The son of Dobsonville – as he proclaimed at the start of his address – also capitalised on the recent Constitutional Court judgment.
“We have a president who was found by the Constitutional Court to have broken the Constitution and the law.”
The pastor in him emerged towards the end of his address. He invited the crowd to get on their feet as he proclaimed the dawn of a new era in “glorious diversity”.
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