Msimanga confirmed as DA’s candidate for Gauteng premier
DA leader John Steenhuisen has announced Solly Msimanga as the party's candidate for Gauteng premier during the 2024 general elections.
Steenhuisen made the announcement at a media briefing on Wednesday.
Msimanga, who is a former Tshwane mayor, has been the party's provincial leader since 2020.
He was re-elected to the position at a congress in August after beating Nkhumeni Ramulifho at the party’s provincial congress.
Steenhuisen described Msimanga as someone who has experience, enthusiasm, and determination in equal measure.
"He is a son of Atteridgeville who has previously served as mayor of South Africa’s capital city, as leader of the official opposition in the Gauteng legislature, and is also the current leader of the DA in Gauteng.”
Steenhuisen used the briefing to highlight the problems besetting local municipalities, which he believes is due to 'small parties' betraying voters.
"If you want to avoid the chaos that has made Johannesburg ungovernable from spreading to the whole of Gauteng next year, then you must unite behind the DA. We have seen over and over again how small parties like the Patriotic Alliance, Cope and Al Jama-ah, which are not part of the (Multi-Party) Charter, have betrayed their voters.
“These small parties are sellouts and traitors. Wherever they go, they cause instability and chaos, which they use to extract better deals for themselves from the ANC.
“They are parasites who care only about positions and patronage. It is time for the people of Gauteng – and the people of South Africa – to turn their backs on the small parties that are hellbent on undermining stability and the Multi-Party Charter for their own selfish gain," said Steenhuisen.
Steenhuisen said the DA is targeting an outright majority in Gauteng in 2024.
"This means that we need to start behaving like a true government-in-waiting. It means that we need to campaign not only on the basis of the ANC’s failures but also on the basis of the DA’s vision to rescue Gauteng.
“This requires the DA in this province to take our game to a whole new level. We will need to work much harder to register every single eligible DA voter. If we want to ensure not only that the ANC loses next year but that the DA wins, we will need to campaign every waking moment of every day.
“Because that is what a real government-in-waiting does."
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