The Democratic Alliance (DA) is launching its manifesto today ahead of the November 1 local government elections. The event is scheduled to take place at 11 am.

It will be held virtually on the DA’s social media platforms with keynote address being delivered by DA leader John Steenhuisen as well as addresses by Mayoral Candidates and DA’s Head of policy, Gwen Ngwenya.

The party wants to win outright majorities in key metros to avoid coalition. The Democratic Alliance said that it had managed to field a candidate in every ward for the very first time. And after announcing its manifesto plans on Friday, the DA said that the documents would serve as a blueprint for towns and cities. However, it is clear that the DA would have a mountain to climb if it wanted to convince voters.

The party is expected to re-emphasize its message that the DA delivers the best governance, service and financial management in the country. Steenhuisen has defended the DA’s insistence that the elections should go ahead even when the IEC had said it would not be possible because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said while the pandemic has impacted the traditional way of campaigning, the DA has moved with the times and is using new ways of to get voters.

“We can’t have mass rallies this is the new normal in COVID. But it doesn’t mean as political parties you can’t campaign. Saturday is going to show at 11 that you can communicate with voters, find a way to get over a problem.

Don’t sit back and say we can’t campaign in this environment, you can campaign.  It’s about adapting to this new normal. The irony is that these political parties have expected citizens to adapt to the new normal but they don’t want to adapt to a new normal themselves,” said Steenhuisen.