Today I humbly accept the Democratic Alliance’s nomination as its mayoral candidate for the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro. This is indeed a great honour.

I’ve seen the social inequalities that the people of Nelson Mandela Bay are confronted with due to more than two decades of ANC government. Addressing these inequalities is the compass that guides and motivates me to continue to serve the people of Nelson Mandela Bay.

Until we have redressed poverty and unemployment, I cannot fold my arms and watch a match that I am supposed to be playing.

I commit myself fully to this mayoral campaign and cannot wait to travel to all corners of our beautiful city to engage with all residents.

This campaign will be demanding, but I will not falter and will speak to all our people as their current and future mayor.

My vision is to return NMB to its rightful place as the economic powerhouse of the province. We will strive to return quality service delivery to the Metro, by clamping down on corruption and maladministration within the municipality. We will create an enabling environment for business to thrive and address unemployment. We will make our communities safer to ensure a better life for all.

The DA and its coalition partners were making progress during our first tenure in government, between 2016 to 2018.

Some of the successes achieved during those two years include:
• NMB went from being in the red to having a R2 billion surplus, receiving a AAA credit rating;
• The City established a new metro police service;
• We stopped R615-million of corrupt contracts;
• The City achieved the best Urban Settlement Development Grants spending in the country;
• We instituted Shot-spotter technology to help curb gang violence;
• Almost 10 000 bucket toilets were eradicated; and
• We put the IPTS buses on the road for the first time.

Since returning to government, in December 2020, the DA and its coalition partners have again made great strides in turning around the destruction brought to the city by two years of corrupt ANC-led coalition governance.

We have fixed leaks, streetlights and our roads. We have acted against corruption, passed a service delivery focused budget, we are cleaning the city and we have been putting plans in place to address our water crisis.

Since returning to government, we have achieved some of the following successes:
• 59 288 residents are receiving access to free basic services.
• Almost 8000 potholes have been repaired.
• More than 15 000 water leaks have been repaired
• Almost 12 000 sewerage complaints have been resolved
• 2631 job opportunities have been created through EPWP.

• The reactivation of ShotSpotter in January 2021 has led to emergency response deployment at 244 shooting emergencies and gun-related incidents have decreased by 67% in Helenvale.
• Under the previous coalition, almost no title deeds were issued to qualifying beneficiaries. More than 6200 unissued title deeds have been identified and issuing of these commenced in July.

The DA believes that the people of Nelson Mandela Bay deserve uninterrupted good governance for the next five years. We need to prevent chaos and instability. This is only possible if the DA receives a majority of 51%.

The DA is the biggest political party in NMB and has a proud track record of good governance. In 2016 the DA missed out on a majority by 12 500 votes. This is all it will take to enjoy five uninterrupted years of DA good governance.

Your vote will mean the difference between a city of despair or a city of hope; between a destitute impoverished city, laid low by corrupt cadres, or a growing, prosperous city, where good governance ensures public services are prioritised to serve the people.

Where the DA governs, we get things done. Together we can take Nelson Mandela Bay forward again.

Issued by The DA