DA kicks off bid for Tshwane

03 September 2015 - 02:06 By Neo Goba and Penwell Dlamini

The battle for the soul of the country's capital city has begun. Yesterday the DA unveiled three mayoral candidates who will battle to become the face of the party in the City of Tshwane during next year's local government elections campaign.The DA feels it has a stronger support base in the City of Tshwane than in the other two metros in Gauteng - Ekurhuleni and the City of Johannesburg.The candidates who will appear before a selection panel tomorrow are member of the Gauteng provincial legislature Solly Msimanga, ward councillor Bronwyn Engelbrecht and the party's spokesman on municipal public accounts, Brandon Topham.Msimanga said service delivery and infrastructure provision would be at the centre of the campaign.He said the ruling party had gone on a spending frenzy on things "that are not a necessity and neglecting necessities"."There's no proper maintenance plan or preventative maintenance plan, which is something that is going to be crucial going forward ... You need to have a proper maintenance plan to keep your city up and running," Msimanga said.In the last elections the ANC suffered its biggest losses in Tshwane, where the party's support declined from 59.95% in 2009 to 49.31%.Yesterday the DA said it wanted to capitalise on the governing party's declining support to claim victory in the country's administrative capital.Already running the country's seat of parliament - Cape Town - the DA believes it has enough support on the ground to claim the metro.The party said it had established a branch in each of the metro's 105 wards. It further claimed it had also increased its support outside its traditional base in the suburbs by venturing into major townships such as Mamelodi, Atteridgeville and Soshanguve, as well as Hammanskraal."Investment has left the CBD ... I mean, if you go to the CBD now, there is no investment because the town is filthy and investors don't want to be in a place where they do not feel safe, where the environment is not friendly."That is one of the reasons we feel the ruling party has got it so wrong," Msimanga said.Political analyst Mzoxolo Mpolase said winning the City of Tshwane would enhance the party's profile nationally."It is the political mileage that the party puts across nationally - of clean governance - that also counts," said Mpolase.Another political analyst, Steven Friedman, said: "In my view, it doesn't really matter how far the candidates have cultivated because when the voter is at the ballot box, they do not look at the CV of the actual person before they cast their vote. Instead, they look at the party that the individual represents. So it remains to be seen who will come out on top out of the three contenders ," said Friedman.Msimanga believes the ANC has not done enough to retain the city.SHARE YOUR VIEW: What issues should the mayoral candidates commit themselves to delivering on the city, should they win? Send your ideas to our local government reporting team on email tellus@thetimes.co.za or post your comment on Facebook @TimesLive ..

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