Durban - Buoyed by winning its first municipality in KwaZulu-Natal at last year’s local government elections, the Democratic Alliance has wasted little time in attempting to make further inroads in the province after it launched its 2024 provincial and national elections campaign in Durban.
The party’s victory at the uMngeni Local Municipality at the 1 November 2021 elections, has seen its party leader John Steenhuisen and Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille join KZN provincial leader Francois Rodgers in launching its campaign for the crucial 2024 elections.
The launch of its bid to get into power in KZN in 2024 saw the DA on Thursday also unveil its new office venue in Queen Nandi Drive in Durban.
Having run the Western Cape province since defeating the ANC there in the 2009 general elections, the DA has now set its sights on wresting power away from the ANC in KZN in 2024.
The party is adamant that it will see a change of government in KZN and that the DA will build toward playing its part in this change with the party’s leaders saying that their role in KZN was to build a campaign team to bring about this change.
Speaking at the launch of the DA’s 2024 general election campaign in Newlands, north of Durban, party leader John Steenhuisen said that they were proud of what the party had been able to achieve in KZN, particularly following the last local government elections.
“We are incredibly pleased with the results that came from KZN and we can see that there is a pathway now for us to be able to bring that change. You guys have got your work cut out for you. You’ve given us a taste of things to come and now need to go out there and deliver it, and that’s going to be the important part.
“The real work starts now for 2024, and the work that’s going to be generated in this office is going to be spoken about for generations to come. It’s time that we turn the tide in KZN against a two party domination and to make the DA prevail and bring our message of change and opportunity, particularly for the millions of residents of KwaZulu-Natal who are trapped in poverty,” Steenhuisen said.
Rodgers said that he was already being approached by members of the ANC and IFP who wanted to talk as they were unhappy about what was going on in their own political organisations.
He said that for the DA the 2024 elections were there for the taking, as the party aims to govern its second province after the Western Cape.
“If one looks at the dismal service delivery in uMsunduzi Municipality, everything has failed, electricity, water, sanitation, cleaning, it’s all disastrous. I spent Christmas fighting with the mayor of uMsunduzi and supporting our councillors in the northern areas to try and get electricity to residents who hadn’t had electricity for 14 days.
“I see in eThekwini you’re having the same problems, now you’re having water issues. The writing is on the wall. I also see in eThekwini that the fragile coalition between the ANC and its partners is already hitting a wobble and we’re not even a hundred days into this new governance,” Rodgers said.
Political Bureau