Caxton Local Media invited Ekurhuleni mayoral candidates, as confirmed at the time of publication, to participate in a question-and-answer interview, giving voters a chance to learn more about their plans, priorities, and hopes for the city ahead of the Local Government Elections on November 4. The views expressed in these questionnaires are those of the respective candidates and do not represent the views of Caxton Local Media or any of its publications. The answers are intended solely to provide voters with information about the candidates contesting the election and to help them make informed choices at the polls.

Democratic Alliance mayoral candidate Khatshutselo Rasilingwane:

Q: Ekurhuleni is a major industrial and economic hub. What is your strategy for protecting existing jobs and attracting new investment?

A: “Ekurhuleni should be one of the easiest places in South Africa to do business. We have OR Tambo International Airport, major industrial areas, established businesses, township economies and a strategic location. Yet our biggest economic advantages are being undermined by unreliable electricity and water, poor roads, municipal red tape and a city that is too often difficult to do business with.

“My strategy starts with getting the basics right. You cannot attract investment when a business cannot rely on electricity, water, roads or municipal services. We want a dedicated investment and business-retention programme that actively works with existing businesses, not only chasing new investors. We need to understand what is stopping companies from expanding, what is putting existing jobs at risk and what the municipality can do to remove those obstacles.

“We also need to cut unnecessary red tape, speed up approvals, tackle vandalism and infrastructure theft, and use our airport and industrial corridors as genuine economic engines.

“But economic growth cannot only happen in established industrial areas. We have to deliberately connect township businesses and young entrepreneurs to opportunities in the formal economy.

“My measure of success will be simple: businesses must be able to tell us that it has become easier to operate and invest in Ekurhuleni and that we must see measurable growth in investment, businesses retained and expanded and jobs created.”

Q: The metro has faced persistent challenges around electricity, water infrastructure, roads and ageing municipal assets. Which infrastructure problem will you tackle first, and why?

A: “We would start with the infrastructure that keeps the entire city functioning: electricity and water. But we don’t see infrastructure as separate problems. A municipality can build a road, but if the streetlights don’t work, the area is unsafe. You can have an industrial park, but if electricity is unreliable, businesses cannot operate. You can have a community, but if water infrastructure is failing, people’s dignity is compromised.

“Our first priority would therefore be a citywide infrastructure recovery programme focused on the reliability of electricity and water, while simultaneously addressing the maintenance backlog on roads and municipal assets.

“We need to stop governing from crisis to crisis. We need an asset register that tells us what we own, what condition it is in, what needs urgent intervention and what it will cost.

“And I want residents to be able to see where their money is going. If a project is budgeted for, there must be a clear timeline, responsible official, contractor and completion date and the public should be able to track that.

“I’ve done enough municipal oversight to know that the problem is not always that government doesn’t have hardworking people. Often the system is failing them. We need to professionalise the system and make people accountable for results.”

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Q: Ekurhuleni has a large number of informal settlements. What is your plan to improve basic services while addressing longer-term housing needs?

A: “This question is personal for me because I know what it means to live in an informal settlement. I have lived in a community where people did not have reliable access to basic services and that experience shaped the kind of public servant I want to be. People living in informal settlements cannot be treated as statistics or as a problem to be moved somewhere else. They are residents of Ekurhuleni and they deserve dignity.

“My immediate priority would be to ensure that informal settlements receive basic services wherever technically and legally possible — water, sanitation, electricity solutions, waste removal, roads and access for emergency services. At the same time, we have to be honest that basic services cannot become a substitute for permanent housing.

“We need a coordinated approach with provincial and national government to accelerate the upgrading of suitable informal settlements and the delivery of serviced sites and housing.

“We also need to deal decisively with illegal land invasions while ensuring that vulnerable people are not simply abandoned. For me the test is whether a family living in an informal settlement can see a credible pathway from survival today to a safer, more dignified home tomorrow.”

Q: What is your plan to improve the metro’s financial position and ensure that municipal spending translates into visible service delivery?

A: “You cannot have sustainable service delivery when the municipality’s finances are under pressure. But equally, residents cannot be told that there is no money while they see waste, poor financial controls and projects that are completed but not being used. My approach would be to bring discipline back into municipal finances.

“First, we need to improve revenue collection and fix the billing and valuation problems that undermine the city’s income. Residents and businesses who pay must have confidence that they are being treated fairly, while those who can pay but refuse to pay must be held accountable.

“Secondly, we need to scrutinise every major expenditure. Procurement must be transparent, competitive and based on value for money.

“Third, we need to recover money lost through fraud and corruption and strengthen consequence management. Corruption cannot simply become another item on an audit report.

“And finally, every rand spent must be connected to an outcome that residents can see. We want to build a municipality where we can say this is what we budgeted, this is what we spent, this is what we delivered and this is who is responsible. My philosophy is truly simple: the public purse is not government money. It is taxpayers’ money and it must work for them.”

Q: Ekurhuleni will have a large number of candidates contesting ward seats in the 2026 elections. What will you expect your ward councillors to deliver for residents, and how will you hold them accountable?

A: “We expect ward councillors to be the eyes, ears and voice of residents — not only people who only appear when there is a political event. A councillor must know their ward. They must know where the electricity is failing, which roads are deteriorating, where illegal dumping is happening, which elderly residents need assistance and which communities are feeling unsafe.

“We expect every councillor to have regular community meetings, visible ward programmes, consistent communication with residents and a system for tracking service-delivery complaints until they are resolved. But accountability must work both ways. We would also expect councillors to escalate problems through the municipality and then follow up. A councillor cannot simply say, ‘I reported it,’ and walk away.

“We need measurable ward-level performance indicators, community engagement, case resolution, response times, attendance at council and committee responsibilities and progress on identified ward priorities.

“I believe councillors must be present in their communities when things are difficult — not necessarily just when things are going well. Leadership is not about having a title. It is about showing up, listening, solving problems and being willing to account for what you did.”

Q: If we interview you again at the end of the 2026–2031 term, what specific measurable result should we be able to hold you accountable for?

A: “When you interview me again at the end of the 2026–2031 term, I want you to ask me whether Ekurhuleni is working better for ordinary residents. But I don’t want that to be a slogan. I want it to be measurable. Hold me accountable for five things: reliable basic services, improved municipal finances, economic growth and jobs, safer communities, and a municipality that is demonstrably less vulnerable to corruption and waste.

“I would want to be able to show you measurable improvements in electricity and water reliability, faster resolution of service-delivery complaints, improved revenue collection and financial stability, investment attracted and jobs created, and functioning municipal infrastructure.

“Most importantly, we want residents themselves to be able to say the municipality is responding when we call, our services work, our streets are safer and our city is moving forward.”

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