The Democratic Alliance's (DA) governance record in Johannesburg and Cape Town has come under scrutiny as the party prepares for the upcoming local government elections. A year ago, former DA leader John Steenhuisen announced Helen Zille as the party's mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, promising to make the city work. However, critics argue that the party's record in coalition governments has been marked by ineptitude, instability, and a focus on catering to wealthy residents.
The DA's experience in coalition governments in Johannesburg has been marred by chronic instability, declining service delivery, irregular expenditure, and weak financial controls. The party has tried to explain away its ineffectiveness by blaming its junior coalition partners, but critics argue that this is a result of its own stubbornness, ideological puritanism, and arrogance. This has contributed to Johannesburg's decline and undermines the idea that the upcoming local government elections are simply a referendum on ANC governance.
Cape Town, often promoted as the DA's flagship municipality, offers a clear view of the party's governing model. Under its leadership, the city has increasingly deepened apartheid-era spatial divides, with an economy that focuses primarily on tourism and the needs of wealthy residents. Poor and middle-class communities continue to be pushed to the margins, with the Constitutional Court's July 2026 Tafelberg judgment highlighting the city's failure to meet its constitutional obligations to deliver affordable housing.
The DA's policy of deliberately catering to digital nomads and overseas visitors has driven rental and living costs far higher than most South Africans can afford. The city's decision to sell valuable land in places such as Sea Point for profit has meant that it has not done its constitutional duty to fix the deep geographic inequalities left by apartheid. This has resulted in families who have lived in areas such as Bo-Kaap for generations being forced to leave due to displacement pressures.
A 2026 Al Jazeera investigation reported that property prices in some Cape Town areas increased by more than 200% over the previous decade, and municipal rates and charges by nearly 500%. The DA's latest local government manifesto proposes to transfer even more functions to private service providers, treating outsourcing, agencification, and privatisation as solutions, despite past rounds having weakened rather than strengthened state capacity.
The DA's approach has been criticised for treating residents like clients and public services like commodities. Generating about 15% of South Africa's GDP, Johannesburg needs an administration that will rebuild state capacity to look after those at the bottom end of the economic pyramid, rather than another privatisation experiment. The state must still intervene on behalf of vulnerable communities, not as a temporary emergency measure, but as a permanent function of a democratic government.
The DA has hypocritically criticised water problems in Johannesburg, given that Cape Town has its own unresolved water issues and major delays in its post-drought water plan. As the party prepares for the upcoming local government elections, its governance record in Cape Town and Johannesburg will be under intense scrutiny. The party's ability to manage partnerships and deliver services to all residents will be a key test of its ability to govern in a fragmented political environment.
Key points
- The DA's governance record in Johannesburg and Cape Town has been marked by ineptitude, instability, and a focus on catering to wealthy residents.
- The party's policy of deliberately catering to digital nomads and overseas visitors has driven rental and living costs far higher than most South Africans can afford.
- The DA's approach has been criticised for treating residents like clients and public services like commodities, rather than prioritising public welfare.
