The Democratic Alliance (DA) has announced Khathutshelo Rasilingwane as its Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate, ahead of the local government elections, expressing confidence in her leadership.

DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga said the upcoming elections would be a watershed moment.

He said through the elections, voters would be able to deal with what he said was the African National Congress’s corruption, maladministration and service delivery failure in Gauteng.

“It is our belief that Khathu is the candidate who will make that possible in Ekurhuleni. Ekurhuleni is at the heart of logistics and production in Gauteng – this great city can work, and should work, and we believe that Khathu is the person to get it working again,” said Msimanga.

In accepting the nomination, Rasilingwane assured no tolerance for the capture of institutions under her leadership.

She said her foremost priority was to rebuild the city and to get it working again.

“… and only the Democratic Alliance has a plan to rescue Ekurhuleni: We will crush corruption and ensure that public money is used to deliver basic services. We will build a professional, capable administration where officials are appointed based on merit, not political connections,” she promised.

She acknowledged that the work would not be easy, but was urgent and necessary, vowing to fight for residents.

“We will fight for the people of Tembisa who have gone weeks without water for drinking or bathing. We will fight for the residents of Kempton Park who experience endless electricity outages while their food rots. We will fight for the people of Daveyton who wait weeks for refuse to be collected while it piles up on their pavements. We will fight for the residents of Boksburg who risk their lives navigating dangerous, pothole-filled roads every day.

“We have all heard the harrowing stories that have been told at the Madlanga Commission, we have all read about the assassination of whistleblowers in Ekurhuleni and we have all seen projects like the Clayville mega housing project stall for years. Every resident in Ekurhuleni has paid for the inflated costs of the SAAME building which ballooned from R47-million to over R300-million and is still not complete,” she said.

The residents of Ekurhuleni deserved more than a “doomsday coalition” that stole their money, broke their City and put lives and livelihoods at risk, she stated.

“They deserve a government that works. What we see in Ekurhuleni today is absolutely unacceptable,” she added.

Rasilingwane claimed that the “criminals” who had looted the country’s public finances, broken infrastructure, and collapsed services were in government.

She promised to fix the basics of local government by ensuring a reliable water supply, stabilising electricity infrastructure, providing refuse collection, and filling pot-holed roads.

“We will make our communities safer by empowering law enforcement agencies to protect residents and enforce bylaws. Finally, we can grow our city’s economy by cutting red tape, restoring basic services, and attracting investment, which will create new opportunities for all residents,” she assured.