The leader of the Democratic Alliance, Geordin Hill-Lewis, was announced as the DA candidate seeking reelection in the City of Cape Town.
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Election season is in full swing with Hanover Park and Delft communities taking centre stage as the DA and ActionSA announced their mayoral candidates, and the uMkhonto Wesizwe Party (MK Party) held a rally in Delft.
The DA leader, Geordin Hill-Lewis, was announced as the party candidate, seeking re-election in the City of Cape Town.
In his speech, Hill-Lewis said meeting residents was the best part of his day and that the DA’s love for Cape Town had driven it to restore hope.
“No matter how tough our problems are, we can solve them, step by step, in the right direction. Our love for Cape Town and her people, our love for this country, made us determined to prove that we could be hopeful again.
“And, nearly five years later, we can feel a deep sense of pride in the city we are building. Cape Town is by no means perfect. And there is still so much to do. But we are showing the whole country what a working city looks like – for everyone,” Hill-Lewis said.
“When I see teenagers in Manenberg and Mandela Park and Atlantis and Bishop Lavis playing on newly rebuilt sports fields of the highest and best quality, I know we have taken Cape Town forward for all,” he said.
“When a mother in Delft hugs me because she has her own flush toilet for the first time in her life, then I know we are delivering dignity to more people. You see, it’s not the stats and the numbers and the clean audits that inspire me. All of those are important, of course,” Hill-Lewis said.
For a second term, he pledged stronger policing, more jobs, service delivery, more affordable homes and cleaner public spaces.
“We refuse to accept that crime is just part of life. We cannot accept that mothers must listen to gunshots at night and wonder whether their children are safe during the day.
“And while national government fails in its policing mandate, Capetonians pay the price. So we have no choice but to keep building Cape Town’s own policing capacity,” Hill-Lewis said.
“I want every resident to hear me clearly: we are not asking you to judge us only by what we say today. Judge us by what we have already done. Judge us by the fact that Cape Town keeps moving forward while so much of South Africa has gone backwards.
“And then judge us again after the election, every day, against these pledges. So today I ask the people of Cape Town for a renewed mandate,” he said.
ActionSA named Dereleen James as its mayoral candidate.
James, who has made herself known to Cape metro residents over the last year, gained attention as part of Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee investigating allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
She said it was unacceptable that middle-class families in the city cannot afford to buy a house.
She also questioned post-apartheid housing. “Why are families not being taken back to the city?”
James added that there can never be a situation where someone has to wait 31 years on the housing list to receive their home.
“We can never, ever have a situation on the Cate Flats, where people have to decide between electricity and a plate of food. I am saying to you, we cannot continue like this,” she said.
She said the launch of her mayoral candidacy under ActionSA is the launch of the people's voices.
“I am an extension of your voice. I am saying to the residents, I am calling on the residents of the Cape Flats. I am saying to you. It is time we start building. I am calling our houses to order,” James said.
She added that ActionSA would ensure that every child on the Cape Flats will have an education because “education is the most powerful tool you can use to change any community”.
Safety is her the number one priority. “Because when we have unsafe communities, we cannot have investment in our communities.”
Delft also saw MK Party president, Jacob Zuma, deliver the keynote address at the Western Cape mobilisation held at the Delft Community Hall.
Also in attendance were First Deputy President Mandlakayise Hlophe, Second Deputy President Tony Yengeni, Secretary-General Sibonelo Nomvalo, members of Parliament, traditional healers, and supporters.
Zuma spoke about the establishment of the party and told members that they were faced with a situation where they were unhappy with what was happening in the ANC and decided to break away.
He said that they established the party because they believe it is “where we are going to take ourselves to freedom”.
“I doubt there is anything that will come above this… This is our last fight with the enemy. We are going to win. We are going to take the country.”