DA sets sights on Gauteng metros as leaders outline municipal vision ahead of local elections

By Johnathan Paoli

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has laid out an ambitious vision to govern Gauteng’s key metros, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane, positioning service delivery, infrastructure investment and coalition reform at the centre of its campaign ahead of the upcoming local government elections.

Speaking at the party’s federal congress over the weekend, senior leaders framed the elections as a decisive moment for the country’s urban future, arguing that the DA’s governance model offers a clear alternative to what they described as failing ANC-led municipalities.

Newly elected third Deputy Federal Chairperson and Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi set the tone by linking the party’s broader vision of “freedom with responsibility” to the lived realities in struggling metros.

“Unemployment, poverty, crime, and corruption are the lived realities of millions of South Africans. These are the consequences of betraying our country’s hard-won freedom,” Malatsi said.

He criticised the state of basic