Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane and Tshwane mayoral candidate Solly Msimanga on Monday unveiled campaign posters urging South Africans to honour Nelson Mandela by voting for the Democratic Alliance.

The DA posters written: "Honour Madiba’s dream, vote DA" were unveiled outside the Union Buildings perimeter fence and a few meters from the nine-metre-tall bronze statue of former president Mandela.

"Fellow South Africans, I’m a proud South African. I’m proud of the achievements of people like Nelson Mandela who, when times were tough, knew that we are better together. We must never ever let the sun set on such a glorious occasion and achievement," Maimane said while addressing DA supporters.

Maimane took a swipe at President Jacob Zuma and the African National Congress (ANC), accusing the governing party of dividing South Africans on the basis of race.

"We are not saying Nelson Mandela should be a member of our party. That is not what we are saying. We’re saying the values of Mandela were timeless. They were values South Africans from all walks of lives stood and fought for. You can’t say politics must be divided on racial lines but that is Jacob Zuma’s campaign – a man who is fundamentally corrupt," said Maimane.

"When he (Zuma) speaks of of a better life, he means a better life for his friends, the Guptas. When he took the oath of office here, to serve and protect the Constitution, it was a complete lie because Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng has already said Jacob Zuma violated the Constitution. How do we listen to a person whose interests are linked to corruption?"

Maimane said Zuma was invoking apartheid to campaign for the ANC.

"He is invoking apartheid to try and campaign for the ANC. He wants to invoke the Population Registration Act which says black people this side and white people that side – the very Act that Nelson Mandela fought against. Jacob Zuma wants it in our politics. He is saying if you are black you must be in this party and if you’re white you must be in that party," said Maimane.

"Zuma is failing to acknowledge people like Joe Slovo, Beyers Naude, Helen Suzman, Ruth First – South Africans who said even though they benefited from apartheid, they were willing to fight against it."

Msimanga said with nine days before the highly contested August 3 municipal elections, he was confident of outwitting ANC Tshwane mayoral candidate Thoko Didiza at the polls.

"When they said they they want to bring Parliament to Tshwane, remember they were trying to run away from a DA-run municipality, what they were forgetting is that this is also going to be a DA-run municipality. Wherever they go, they will always be in a DA-run municipality. It’s good because we need both houses of governance (Parliament and Union Buildings) in a DA-run municipality so that we give them good services," said Msimanga.

"I’m excited because in nine days time…we will say this is a DA town and we will then start speeding up service delivery in our town. Ours is to turn this capital city around and make it a capital city we can all be proud of. We are doing this because we understand the values of Nelson Mandela."