By CAPE TOWN — Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Geordin Hill-Lewis has launched a sharp critique of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent local government manifesto campaign, asserting that the President’s reliance on party cronyism ignores the reality of South Africa’s evolving political landscape.
Hill-Lewis directly challenged Ramaphosa’s statement that ANC-led municipalities hold an advantage because local mayors can simply turn to a “comrade” in the national executive for assistance. According to Hill-Lewis, this line of reasoning violates both the spirit and the practical reality of the Government of National Unity (GNU) formed following the May 2024 general elections, in which the ANC lost its parliamentary majority.
“The ANC still struggles to distinguish between the party and the state,” Hill-Lewis stated, arguing that after decades of municipal decline, Ramaphosa is asking citizens to support the ANC not based on a track record of service delivery, but on access to network connections within state institutions.
A Shift in Municipal Control
The DA leader highlighted the political re-alignment underway across the country’s major urban hubs. Pointing toward upcoming municipal contests, Hill-Lewis emphasized that the ANC is a party in decline and predicted it will govern fewer towns and cities following the next round of local elections.
The DA has set its sights on becoming the largest party in at least four metropolitan municipalities, including Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, and Tshwane in Gauteng. The party views municipal success in these regions as a stepping stone toward contesting provincial control of Gauteng in 2029 and eventually leading a national government.
“Government belongs to the people, not to political parties,” Hill-Lewis noted, stressing that public revenues dedicated to infrastructure, water, electricity, and housing should deliver results through competence and structural accountability rather than political patronage.
Professionalization vs. Party Networks
Contrasting the DA’s governance philosophy with that of the ruling party, Hill-Lewis argued that reliance on a “comrade state” has failed to rescue struggling local authorities across South Africa.
“The ANC says vote for them because their comrades control the state. The DA says vote for us because we know how to make the state work,” said Hill-Lewis. He framed the choice for voters as one between an expiring model of cadre-based administration and a commitment to professional, non-partisan public service capable of serving all citizens equally regardless of political affiliation.
With coalition politics now firmly established at the national level, Hill-Lewis expressed confidence that voters will increasingly reject party-centric governance in favour of accountable administration.
