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Last week I spent three nights staying in Mitchells Plain doing 24/7 safety patrols alongside neighbourhood watches and our Metro Police. I wanted to spend time with residents who invited me to be in their streets and to walk alongside the people who work tirelessly to keep their communities safe.

While in Mitchells Plain I met community members, joined Community Policing Forum patrols, accompanied City of Cape Town led safety operations and vehicle checks, and listened to people who know both the extraordinary spirit of Mitchells Plain and the serious challenges it faces.

Through little sleep, lots of hot coffee and warm laughter, what struck me most during the visit was the determination of residents to build a safer, better community, and their growing confidence that the DA is on their side. They see a government working for them, not against them.

That confidence is reflected in recent independent polling. In the News24/SABI survey, Cape Town was the only one of the four metros surveyed where residents believed their city was moving in the right direction. In the others, voters were far more pessimistic.

It is an incredible shame that across South Africa, people are losing faith that local government can deliver. But in places like Cape Town, uMngeni, Midvaal and through the towns in the Western Cape where the DA governs, people can see the difference.

Where the DA governs things are obviously not perfect. But the difference is that the DA does not simply accept these problems as inevitable. We work alongside residents. And we invest in safer streets, better services and more opportunities. I do not accept that decline is inevitable and that it is our future.

It is encouraging that people can see this DA difference. And it is even more encouraging that people see through the empty promises of empty parties who will say anything to win a vote, but deliver nothing.

They see that contrast with what the DA does.

They know that the DA offers substance, not spectacle. We offer a record that can be checked and which is most importantly experienced by millions, there where the DA governs. And above all, people see that DA governments serve everyone, regardless of who they are, where they live, or how they voted.

On 4 November, South Africans have the chance to bring that difference to Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay, eThekwini, Mangaung and municipalities across our country. Wherever the DA leads, we will bring the same commitment to getting the basics right and governing for everyone.

But none of this will happen automatically.

So with 15 days to go, there is an excitement building. We can feel change coming. So don’t sit this one out. Encourage your family, friends, neighbours and colleagues to do the same. We need record turnout to turn this growing trust into governments that can deliver.

Let’s not just hope for change. Vote for change on 4 November.
 

Issued by DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis