ANC Greater Tshwane has slammed DA's electioneering tactics, accusing the party of misleading residents with false claims about water crises and financial mismanagement in Tshwane.
Image: Independent Newspapers Archives
The ANC Greater Tshwane Regional Executive Committee has criticised the Democratic Alliance (DA) for what it describes as “desperate electioneering stunts” aimed at misleading the public in Tshwane and Gauteng.
According to the ANC, the DA has launched a media campaign falsely claiming a water crisis in the City of Tshwane, using the issue to push a narrative that the DA can resolve it.
Joel Masilela ka Mahlangu, the ANC Greater Tshwane Regional Spokesperson, rejected these claims, saying the DA's portrayal of a crisis was a tactic to deflect from its past mismanagement of the city.
"The DA has, out of desperation, embarked on a sinister media campaign to try and mislead residents of Tshwane and Gauteng that there’s a crisis that requires the supremacist DA to resolve it.
''The DA has been spreading lies, including that the city’s finances and that there's service delivery challenge in particular water shortages that it deliberately exaggerates.''
Masilela stressed that the water shortage in Tshwane is being actively addressed by the current ANC-led government.
Masilela also noted that the real challenges faced by the city are a result of the DA’s governance during its eight-year tenure.
“The ANC-led government of the City of Tshwane is attending to water shortages and other service delivery challenges created largely by the DA and its allies during their eight-year reign in the city,” he said.
Accusing the DA of racialising service delivery, neglecting public infrastructure, and mismanaging the city's finances, Masilela argued that the DA's tenure led to a financial collapse, severe debt, and poor audit results, problems that directly impacted service delivery in townships where the majority of Tshwane's population lives.
Masilela also responded to the DA's criticism of water tankers being used as a temporary measure for water shortages, pointing out that it was the DA that introduced this policy.
He said that while the DA now criticises water tankers, the ANC is working to eliminate their use by prioritising the maintenance of water infrastructure that the DA had neglected.
“Water tankers were introduced by the DA and its partners, and the progressive ANC-led coalition government is working to reduce and eventually eliminate altogether reliance on them,” Masilela said.
The ANC has also accused the DA of attempting to link the issues in Tshwane with those in Johannesburg and Gauteng, framing it as part of a broader strategy to attack African-led governments.
Masilela took issue with the DA's recent billboard campaign in Pretoria, calling it a “wicked attempt” to boost the party's election prospects.
“The latest performance in which we saw the DA unveil a billboard in Pretoria in a wicked attempt to prop up its otherwise failing election campaign is even more laughable,” he said.
Masilela suggested that instead of focusing on false narratives, the DA should address its own issues, pointing to a scandal involving Dean Macpherson, a DA member, who allegedly cost taxpayers R350,000 for a trip to Brazil that turned into a personal vacation.
“Instead of embarking on a campaign of misinformation, the DA should be trying to teach its leaders the basics of good governance,” Masilela said.
“That is the real issue that the blue ultra-right party should be preoccupying itself with—answering for the R350,000 that Dean Macpherson cost the Department of Public Works.”
The ANC also reiterated its opposition to the DA's political agenda, accusing the party of attempting to bring back apartheid.
“The REC further reiterates its longstanding rejection of the DA's racist agenda, that of restoring apartheid in our beautiful capital city,” Masilela said.
As the local government elections approach, the ANC expects the DA’s tactics to grow more desperate and urged the public to reject what it sees as an attempt to return to the era of apartheid.
"We expect the DA stunts to get even more desperate as the local government elections draw closer and call on communities to reject the attempt to return us to the dark days of apartheid," Masilela said.
The ANC Greater Tshwane Regional Executive Committee assured residents that significant progress has been made in addressing the service delivery issues left by the DA.
“The REC once again assures communities in the city that the ANC-led coalition government has made tremendous progress in fixing the mess created by the racist and corrupt DA and its partners,” Masilela said.
IOL Politics