Gauteng Premier David Makhura on Monday said some Democratic Alliance (DA) members had told him of their lack of confidence the party's Johannesburg mayoral candidate, Herman Mashaba.

Makhura claimed that opposition members had told him it would be hard for the DA to win Johannesburg in the August 3 local government elections because the African National Congress (ANC) and mayor Parks Tau were doing a good job.

He was speaking at an ANC Gauteng discussion about land redistribution, education, and black economic empowerment.

Makhura told ANC supporters that some DA leaders had told him Mashaba could not run the DA caucus.

“The DA caucus is very difficult to run. You must ask Mmusi Maimane. It’s not the same as running Black Like Me. I think Mashaba's biggest problem is not the ANC, it’s running a DA caucus," he said. Mashaba, an entrepreneur, started the Black Like Me range of haircare products in 1985.

Makhura warned that should Johannesburg fall into the “wrong hands”, transformation would stop.

“The urban promise will be the urban nightmare, where a high concentration of people have needs that can’t be met."

Nor could the city be entrusted to the “young people” in the Economic Freedom Fighters who would “smash everything”.

“If this city is dysfunctional, many of you will run back to the rural areas. I don’t think you want to do that," he said.