DA vows to fix eThekwini’s water crisis if elected: Hill-Lewis

Geordin Hill-Lewis, leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), has announced that his party’s top priority after a successful local government election will be addressing the severe water crisis in eThekwini metro. Speaking at an election meeting in uMhlanga, Durban, Hill-Lewis highlighted that 65% of the city’s bulk water is currently lost, and there are 13,000 water leaks in the city.

He promised that the DA will restore integrity in the running of the city by conducting lifestyle audits for all senior officials and fostering a culture of service.

Hill-Lewis emphasized that with numerous problems to tackle, the focus must be on the city’s water infrastructure, which is in the most dire state of crisis. He assured the audience that this would involve tough choices, prioritization, and hard work, but it is what the people will receive from the DA government. Haniff Hoosen, the DA’s mayoral candidate for eThekwini, is expected to prioritize water infrastructure as his main focus while serving as the mayor of Durban.

Federal Leader Solly Msimanga also addressed the importance of good local governance in creating jobs. He cited a recent job creation report by Statistics South Africa, which revealed that Cape Town created 420,000 jobs over the past five years, surpassing the job creation in the other seven metros in the country combined. Msimanga questioned why protestors against illegal immigrants have not asked themselves why people are migrating to South Africa.

He argued that broken services and an economy that is not moving are the reasons why people leave countries such as Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Nigeria to seek opportunities in South Africa. He urged the audience to consider how they would fare if they were unable to make their own countries work.