Johannesburg - Heavyweights from the DA took their election campaign to Soweto, south of Johannesburg, on Thursday, promising residents better lives under the Democratic Alliance.
Gauteng premier candidate Mmusi Maimane said in Jabulani: “The only way Soweto will be better... can only happen under DA government. We will make sure the people of Soweto have title deeds.”
Dozens of people wearing DA T-shirts cheered as he added: “We are simply saying, on May 7 (election day), DA government is coming.”
Standing on the back of a bakkie with DA leader Helen Zille, he accidentally referred to the African National Congress as the “blue, green-” then corrected himself to say “black, green and gold”.
Zille said the DA government had very good policies.
“If we are going to implement them, we need to be in government.
“Lots of people ask why doesn't the DA do things for people in Gauteng like it does in the Western Cape. It's your chance on May 7.”
Zille said the “DA difference” would mean more jobs, better service delivery, better hospitals and a better life.
“The person who will bring you clean governance in Gauteng is Mmusi Maimane.”
Earlier, Zille was greeted with ululation as she arrived in Jabulani.
As she and Maimane led the DA procession through the streets, she applied sunscreen thickly to her face.
They visited a woman, who had her leg in a plaster cast, in her bed.
At another house, Zille cradled a small child on her lap as she listened to a woman's concerns.
She introduced Maimane to the woman, saying: “You can make us (the DA) come to Soweto by voting for Mmusi.”
The woman told them her children did not have jobs and Maimane encouraged her to vote DA.
At the next house, Zille and Maimane greeted Bongilile Khumalo and her husband, who were sitting on the stoep.
Zille cooed over the baby Khumalo was holding and asked permission to hold her.
She cuddled the baby as Khumalo told her that her children were unable to find jobs and complained about housing.
Khumalo's daughter said after the DA left the house that they had promised to fix these issues if the DA won Gauteng in the elections.
“They promised, but we don't believe them.”
Another resident, Charmaine Radebe, watched the DA procession as it wended its way through her neighbourhood.
“These people are doing the same thing as the ANC, promising us things, but we don't know if they are going to come through.”
Radebe said politicians had abandoned young people, who had no money for education and battled to find jobs.
Another man, who asked not to be named, predicted that the DA would win Gauteng.
He said he had no political affiliation himself as he had lost faith in politicians.
“All politicians are the same. They only come before an election and we never see them again.”
Sapa