KANYAMAZANE – The mayor of Midvaal municipality joined the DA in Mpumalanga on Saturday when the party launched its election manifesto in the province at KaNyamazane Stadium.
Mr Bongani Baloyi shared with the party’s supporters the successes it has achieved in the only DA-run municipality in Gauteng. According to Baloyi, the role municipalities play in creating jobs cannot be underestimated.
“It is a precondition for development that a municipality just do its job, and perform its core function.”
Provincial party leader Mr James Masango said they were targeting Steve Tshwete (Middelburg) and Dipaleseng (Balfour) local municipalities where the DA currently holds 17 seats out of 58 and two out of the 12 seats to win.
Masango said the party would not penalise itself before a ball had been kicked, in other words would not enter into any coalition talks before the elections.
Mr Ferrad Essack said there was no way they would do so, particularly not with the EFF, of which the ideology of socialism and nationalisation differed widely from the DA’s capitalism.
He added that the party was confident that it would increase it councillors in Thaba Chweu Municipality (TCM) from the current seven to at least 11 out of the 28 councillors.
“The DA likes to do its numbers very carefully and conservatively. We have been growing steadily. I am confident that we will have at least a minimum of 11 councillors after the election, maybe 12.
“That will make huge inroads into the balance of power. TCM has had a number of problems over the years.”
Baloyi added that it was sometimes problematic to inherit dysfunctional municipalities, but it was “not rocket science” that they had to perform their core functions of provision of water and sanitation and electricity, roads maintenance and refuse removal to attract investment, something Midvaal has successfully managed.
In its election manifesto the DA targets SMME development, youth employment, speedy land redistribution and the
upliftment of especially rural women in education and training as well as the eradication of corruption.
“When we find someone is corrupt, we don’t redeploy them, we fire them,” Baloyi said.
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