Battle for the City of Gold: DA, ANC and ActionSA Trade Blows Ahead of Local Elections
- The battle for Joburg is heating up as political parties ramp up their campaigns ahead of the November local elections
- The DA’s controversial “water tanker mafia” billboard in Hammanskraal has sparked fierce reactions from the ANC and ActionSA
- The row has once again put Tshwane’s water crisis and the parties’ service-delivery records under the spotlight
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GAUTENG - The battle for control of Johannesburg and Gauteng’s major metros is heating up ahead of the November local government elections.
With political parties fighting for control of the City of Gold and the economic heartbeat of South Africa, much of the election battle is increasingly playing out online.
The DA, ANC, ActionSA and other parties have turned social media into a key campaigning tool, using platforms to promote their policies, attack their rivals and highlight alleged failures in municipalities.
One of the latest flashpoints is a controversial “water tanker mafia” billboard unveiled by the DA in Hammanskraal.
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DA takes aim at ANC and ActionSA
The billboard, launched by DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink, accuses the ANC and ActionSA of spending R777 million on water tankers in Tshwane during their first year in government.
It calls on residents to:
“Take back your city from water tanker mafia! Vote DA.”
The DA says residents should have reliable water flowing from their taps instead of depending on tankers. Brink claimed a package plant intended to provide Hammanskraal with clean drinking water was nearly completed under the previous DA administration but stalled after the ANC and ActionSA took over.
The DA has also alleged that companies linked to ANC officials benefited from water-tanking contracts.
ANC hits back at DA
Gauteng ANC chairperson Panyaza Lesufi accused the DA of being “opportunistic” and questioned the party’s own record on water tankers when it previously governed Tshwane.
Lesufi asked who appointed the current water-tanker contractors, arguing that the DA was in charge of Tshwane when the contracts were initially awarded.
"They are being opportunistic. The water tankers of Tshwane, the current contract of water tankers, who appointed them? It’s the DA.”
He accused the DA of running out of ideas and attempting to score political points from the water crisis.
ActionSA also weighs in
Action SA leader Herman Mashaba accused the DA's campaign of “stooping to new lows” by unveiling the billboard in Hammanskraal, where residents died during the 2023 cholera outbreak.
Beaumont pointed to the area's long-running water crisis and argued that both the ANC and DA had failed over the years to resolve problems at the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The 2023 cholera outbreak claimed 31 lives nationally, with 29 of the deaths recorded in Hammanskraal at the time.
The Rooiwal project has also faced scrutiny over a multimillion-rand contract linked to businessman Edwin Sodi, with the Special Investigating Unit authorised to investigate alleged maladministration and corruption relating to the project.
Edwin Sodi linked to stalled Hammanskraal water plant project
Briefly News also reported that controversial tenderprenuer Edwin Sodi has been linked to the deadly cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal.Sodi's companies were awarded tenders to refurbish the Rooiwal Water Treatment Plant but never completed the project.The Hammanskraal cholera outbreak has claimed the life of 20 people and hospitalised 165.
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Source: Briefly News
