The DA’s mayoral candidate in Joburg, Dr Mpho Phalatse is adamant the people of the City want a new party in power after the November 1 municipal elections.
Addressing party supporters in Eldorado Park on Thursday in one of her final election campaign stops ahead of elections, she described the battle as an “election race of a lifetime”.
"It is our turning point. Johannesburg is broken, but residents know for sure that it is only the DA that can get things done and fix it again! But we must remain wide awake. This election is a make or break for Johannesburg. Smaller parties who only seek to take away votes from the DA are not working in your best interest. Coalitions are a gamble,” Phalatse said.
She said you could be sometimes lucky, where you get clean, principled parties coming together to form a coalition of good governance, but sometimes “corrupt parties take over your municipality through the back door, because there was no majority party".
“Why risk it? Why gamble your water, electricity, roads, housing, and so much more by voting for a smaller party? Why risk it so the ANC can have more Digital Vibes?
“Over the past five years in Johannesburg, the DA gave you service delivery, while smaller parties gave you corrupt mayors like Geoff Makhubo. All you need to do is vote for the DA and you will receive a guaranteed five years of uninterrupted service delivery,” Phalatse said.
She said it was the last chance for the residents to rescue a broken Johannesburg so the DA can get the City back on the right track.
According to her, millions of South Africans had already used their power to vote the DA into government because they knew that the DA was the only party that gets things done.
“The five best-run municipalities are governed by the DA. Could you imagine an ANC-EFF-governed Johannesburg after these elections? How can we trust those two parties, who are already working together to change the Constitution and take away your right to own property? The ANC has shown us they are willing to blatantly lie to get votes. Just look at what happened this past weekend.
“Eskom announced stage 2 load shedding. The ANC mayor (Mpho Moerane) said there would be no load shedding for City customers because City Power had enough capacity. City Power then went on to release their load shedding schedule, only to retract it shortly thereafter. Then on Monday, Eskom and City Power released a joint statement saying that City Power does not actually have enough capacity to protect residents from load shedding. How can any leader and party allow for such confusion and lies to take place?” Phalatse asked.
She said Joburg residents were sick and tired of the constant electricity outages, whether due to load shedding or to unplanned outages caused by poor infrastructure.
“Residents of Soweto, Ivory Park and Orange Farm have had enough of being let down by Eskom, who never communicate to them on any updates regarding their electricity supply. The ANC have been load shedding voters for too long. It is time for us to shed the ANC of their power in the City of Gold,” Phalatse said.
“While the ANC rushes around panicking, making up lies to prevent their inevitable and embarrassing loss in these elections, the DA in Johannesburg has a real plan to fix electricity supply once and for all.”
Phalatse said she wanted City Power to take full control over all supply in the city, saying Eskom must get their act together, and fix their broken infrastructure in Soweto, Ivory Park and Orange Farm so that City Power could take over supply.
“But we will never allow the ratepayers of Johannesburg to take over any debt that is owed to Eskom,” she said.
baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za
Political Bureau