My fellow South Africans

This city – Egoli, the City of Gold – is standing at the start of a brand new chapter.

You and I are about to make history here in Johannesburg.

The Democratic Alliance means business in this city.

We are not in these elections to make up the numbers, or to strengthen our position as the opposition party.

No, we are in these elections to win. We are here in Johannesburg to serve notice on this ANC government.

We are here to say: pack up your desks and clear out your offices, because this city is about to get a real government.

On 4 August begins a new chapter for this great city.

A chapter written by Mayor Herman Mashaba and by hundreds of thousands of you who will make your mark next to the DA in these elections.

I love this city. It is my home town. This is where I grew up. And this is not just any city. This is Johannesburg. It is the beating heart of our economy. This place has to work for our country to work.

But I am sorry to say that right now it isn’t working. It has been failed by the people elected to look after it.

This ANC government of Parks Tau had an opportunity to make something of Joburg in their term in office, but they didn’t. They let this city and its people down.

The difference between a city that works and a city that fails is its local government.

Local governments make or break a city. So when you decide where to make your mark next Wednesday, there are three crucial questions you need to ask about the parties on the ballot:

1. Will this party be able grow the local economy of my city so that it can create jobs?
2. Is this party capable of ending corruption for good in this city?
3. And can this party deliver better services to more people of this city?

If these three things are not at the core of a party’s offer, then they cannot possibly be the right party to run the City of Johannesburg.

At the DA we have been very clear about our offer to voters in these elections.

We have made jobs our top priority, because right now almost nine million South Africans cannot find work.

We made a promise to voters that we will turn their cities and towns into hubs of economic growth, creating thousands of jobs.

Where we govern in the City of Cape Town, we have the lowest unemployment of all metros in the country.

Where we govern here in Midvaal, the level of unemployment is half what it is in the rest of Gauteng.

When we make these promises to voters, we can back it up.

Where we govern, we promised voters that we will put a stop to corruption once we take over the government of their city or town.

Again, not just talk, but backed up with facts.

In the cities of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay, over R2.2 billion was lost to corruption in the last financial year.

In Cape Town, the figure for that same period was zero. Cape Town is considered by the Auditor-General and by independent studies as the best-run metro with the least corruption and waste in the country.

That’s our promise to voters: jobs, services and no corruption. And we can back all of it up with proof that the DA delivers.

We know that South Africans want real solutions to their problems, not stories of us and them, as if this was still the old South Africa.

And that’s why we know that they will show you the door on 3 August.

They will vote you out and they will vote in a DA government that can make the City of Johannesburg work again.

They will vote for thousands of jobs in Johannesburg.

They will vote for better service delivery in Johannesburg.

And they will vote to end the corruption that has become such a feature of this ANC government here in Johannesburg.

They will vote for the only party that can lead this city into a bright and prosperous future.

Change is coming to Johannesburg.

Amandla!