Johannesburg – Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille is confident the Democratic Alliance will continue governing in the Western Cape and expand its support in other provinces.
Speaking at the DA’s Phetogo closing rally at the Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto, Johannesburg, on Saturday for the August 3 municipal elections, De Lille said from Monday politicians would give way for voters to speak.
Buses were ferrying DA supporters dressed in blue T-shirts and waving DA flags to the Dobsonville Stadium – the area where DA leader Mmusi Maimane grew up – on Saturday morning.
The DA hopes to fill the 24 000-seat stadium two days before some South Africans cast special votes and four days before the rest of the country will head to the polls.
“Today is to consolidate our message and give the opportunity for our leader Mmusi Maimane to say thank you. Don’t underestimate the voters, they know what they want,” De Lille said.
She was optimistic that the DA would win and govern municipalities outside of the Western Cape.
“You can see the difference between Cape Town and the rest of the country. They will give their vote to us for the next five years. The vote is the only way to bring about change,” she said.
“The ANC has nothing left. They only have the race card. We [the DA] are the most diverse party, our only race is to fight corruption. They [the ANC] are dividing South Africa which is against the Constitution, and it’s below the belt campaigning and desperate [tactics],” De Lille said.
On the campaign trail recently, African National Congress president Jacob Zuma claimed the DA was the party of the “oppressor” and black people voting DA would be “punished by their ancestors”.
African News Agency (ANA)