Democratic Alliance mayoral candidate Khathutshelo Rasilingwane for the City of Ekurhuleni has pledged to turn things around the city if elected.
Image: Facebook / Khathutshelo Rasilingwane
The Democratic Alliance mayoral candidate for the City of Ekurhuleni, Khathutshelo Rasilingwane, has accused current mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza of failing to deliver basic services, saying she would improve conditions if elected.
Rasilingwane said she hopes the DA will secure an outright majority in the upcoming local government elections.
She made the remarks in an interview with IOL News following her announcement last week as the party’s candidate for the City of Ekurhuleni.
The metro, which is South Africa’s manufacturing hub, has a population of around four million but faces persistent service delivery challenges, including water shortages, power outages, potholes, sewer spills and high crime levels.
Ekurhuleni has also been under scrutiny over the past year, with senior officials implicated in wrongdoing during the Madlanga Commission into corruption in the criminal justice system.
The DA has already named mayoral candidates for other Gauteng metros, including Johannesburg and Tshwane.
Former Western Cape premier and Cape Town mayor Helen Zille has been named as the mayoral candidate for the City of Johannesburg, while Cilliers Brink has been named as the mayoral candidate for the City of Tshwane.
The party previously governed these metros through coalitions after the 2016 local elections.
Rasilingwane told IOL News that Ekurhuleni was at a critical turning point and pledged to reverse its decline.
“The responsibility is huge, but I believe my skills, experience and capabilities make me ready for the task,” she said.
Rasilingwane said her first priority would be restoring basic service delivery.
“We need to go back to basics,” she said, saying that prolonged electricity outages in areas such as Kempton Park, Benoni and Tembisa, where residents have also faced water shortages.
She proposed establishing a “water war room” reporting directly to the mayor, alongside a rapid audit of infrastructure, including reservoirs, pump stations and pipelines.
“We will fix major leaks within 72 hours of detection,” she said, adding that daily coordination with bult water supplier - Rand Water would improve preparedness.
On electricity, she said ageing infrastructure, poor maintenance and inadequate budgeting were driving outages.
She said the DA would establish an energy command centre, prioritise maintenance of substations and transformers, and reduce outage response times to under 24 hours.
Illegal connections would also be addressed, she added, alongside engagement with Eskom on load management.
Rasilingwane said service delivery failures were not due to staff shortages but to poor hiring practices.
“The issue is cadre deployment rather than merit-based appointments,” she said.
She pledged to professionalise the administration and recruit skilled personnel.
The mayoral hopeful is also committed to shifting the municipality from a reactive to a proactive approach through preventative maintenance.
Plans include creating a dedicated infrastructure maintenance unit with clear performance targets and ring-fencing budgets for maintenance.
Khathutshelo Rasilingwane says the Democratic Alliance is aiming for full control of Ekurhuleni as residents face ongoing water, electricity and infrastructure challenges.
Image: Facebook / Khathutshelo Rasilingwane
Rasilingwane said corruption was a major contributor to service delivery failures.
“It diverts resources away from residents into the hands of a connected few,” she stated.
She pledged strict consequence management, audits of major contracts and the cancellation of irregular or inflated tenders.
The DA aims to win an outright majority but may consider coalition partners if necessary, provided they align with its governance principles.
Rasilingwane ruled out compromising on merit-based appointments in any coalition agreement.
She criticised Xhakaza’s administration, saying ongoing service delivery failures reflected poor leadership.
“If these issues were being addressed, communities would not go weeks without water or electricity,” she said.
Independent political analyst Goodenough Mashego said the DA was unlikely to win outright and would probably rely on coalition negotiations.
“Mayors are elected by councillors, not directly by voters, so outcomes depend on coalition dynamics,” he said.
“I don't see her becoming that mayor. Well, anybody in Ekurhuleni, anywhere else where there's a coalition government can claim the mayor is failing, but mayors don't work. The people working as the mayor are just the carrier of the vision.”
“At this point in time, the mayor of Ekurhuleni cannot fire anybody in the mayoral committee because they didn't put those people there. I don't think she has the potential to be mayor, and she has the potential to turn things around,” Mashego said.
Professor Theo Neethling of the University of the Free State said the DA’s chances depend on improving its electoral performance.
He said in 2021, the party secured 65 of 224 council seats (about 28.7%).
Since 2024, Ekurhuleni has been governed by an ANC-led coalition.
“Rasilingwane’s candidacy signals intent, but the numbers remain challenging,” he said.
“The DA would need either significant gains or a viable coalition to govern.”
He described her prospects as “low to moderate”, with a higher likelihood that the DA will improve its position but remain in opposition.
IOL News contacted ANC Ekurhuleni regional secretary Jongizizwe Dlabathi for comment on the allegations against mayor Xhakaza, who also serves as the party’s regional chairperson.
Although he indicated he would respond, no comment had been received by the time of publication.
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