DA promises Durban water bills halved as it warns MK Party would bring 'chaos'

The DA is promising to halve Durban’s water bills by putting R10 billion into repairing and replacing the city’s water infrastructure, and it has framed the 4 November vote as a choice between its own record and an MK Party it says has none.

In a broadcast published by eNCA (YouTube), a DA figure set out the scale of the city’s water problem as the party sees it: 13,000 leaks across Durban, 65% of the water lost, and R3 billion lost every year. The party says its R10 billion programme would repair and replace the network, and that the result would be bills less than half of what residents pay now.

The broadcast was also an explicit appeal for votes. The speaker urged viewers to get behind the DA on 4 November to prevent the MK Party from taking over in eThekwini, warning that otherwise the city would face even more chaos over the next five years.

Much of the argument rested on a comparison of track records. The speaker said the DA has learned how to fix things and pointed to uMgungundlovu Municipality, which he described as the worst-run municipality five years ago and the best-run today after five years of DA governance. He said the party has tried and tested plans on the table and could bring that service delivery to Durban.

By contrast, he said the MK Party does not govern and has no plan, and that it would be learning over the next five years. He described the MK Party as synonymous with chaos, said chaos follows it wherever it goes, and told viewers they could not afford to take another five years of chance with people who have no track record of delivery.

The broadcast did not set out how the R10 billion would be funded, nor did it give a timeline for the repairs beyond the five-year term it was asking voters to grant.