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The Mayoral Candidates announced late last night by the ANC following the special sitting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) represent more of the same: more corruption, deteriorating service delivery for the poor and higher unemployment.

The ANC cannot bring the change South Africa needs, because it is more concerned with putting allies of Jacob Zuma in top mayoral positions. Zuma's pals will, like the President, put self-enrichment first and the people last.

In the past year since being sent to NMB by Jacob Zuma, Danny Jordaan has shown himself to be a part-time Mayor of broken promises after having faked the launch of a Metro Police, introducing 21 000 more NMB residents to the ranks of the unemployed since December 2015 and losing over R320 million to leaks and electricity theft in the last 9 months. Additionally, Jordaan's criminal pal Linda Mti was recently appointed to the Head of Safety and Security.

In five years Mayor Parks Tau has overseen unemployment in Johannesburg rise to 869 000. At the same time conditions in the informal settlements of Johannesburg have deteriorated to where the SA Human Rights Commission is now investigating the Johannesburg ANC government for human rights abuses. That the ANC wants to give Tau another term in government, shows that the ANC doesn't take service delivery and stopping corruption seriously.

In Tshwane, the failure to reaffirm Mayor Ramokgopa shows that the ANC recognizes that he and his ANC government have failed to deliver, including Sputla's PEU smart-meter Billion Rand scandal, unlawful broadband contracts, undrinkable water in Hammanskraal with 40 000 more people joining the ranks of the unemployed in Tshwane since January 2016.

The ANC's inability to select a Tshwane candidate tonight to replace Sputla shows a fractured and broken ANC in Tshwane. The voters cannot place trust in a party that fails to even agree on a suitable candidate for Mayor because it is so fractured and factionalised.

Jacob Zuma has delayed the announcement of these candidates by over six months because the ANC did not want to be scrutinised by the public, because they know what many people across our country know: the ANC governs like black lives don't matter.

The bottom line is that the ANC's Mayoral Candidates for the Battleground Metros are not in the best interests of South Africa. They cannot bring about real and positive change. Zuma's pals will focus on benefiting the ANC-connected elite at the expense of the poor.

More of the same from the ANC will simply not bring the change that South Africa needs to move forward again.

This week's IPSOS independent poll shows that the DA can win in Nelson Mandela Bay and Tshwane, and that we face a two-horse-race in Johannesburg. Only the DA can win, and unseat Zuma's pals.

The DA is ready to bring real change to Nelson Mandela Bay, Tshwane, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and many other places across our beautiful nation. This is the change that will stop corruption, deliver better services and create jobs. This is the change we need to move our country forward again.

Issued by DA