Residents of Kwadukuza, Leaders of the Democratic Alliance, amakhosi, business owners, youth, and the resilient people of our beautiful municipality.
Today, I stand before you deeply humbled and grateful to accept the nomination as the Democratic Alliance’s Mayoral Candidate for KwaDukuza. Today is not just a political moment for me. It is deeply personal. I am third-generation KwaDukuza, a child of this soil. My grandparents and my parents built their lives here and I grew up here.
The streets I walk today are the same streets that shaped me. The beaches we promote for tourism are the same beaches where we ran barefoot as children. And the sugar cane fields where we see development happening, are the same fields we walked through growing up.
So, KwaDukuza is not a case study to me, it is my identity and my responsibility. This moment is historic for a number of reasons, but it is not just about me. It is about what it says to every young girl in this municipality: that leadership has no gender, no race, no ceiling. Friends, today, we do need to be honest with one another. Our municipality is failing.
From KwaDukuza CBD to Groutville, from Shakaskraal to Ballito, from Stanger Manor to Darnall, from Blythedale to Doringkop, our people are frustrated. They are tired of empty promises. They are tired of electricity that fails businesses and households. They are tired of potholes roads, rampant unemployment and taps that are running dry. They are tired of corruption being normalised while the residents suffer. The time for lip service is over.
If you entrust me with this responsibility, my leadership will be built on five clear commitments:
1. Electricity stability.
Reliable electricity is not a luxury. It is safety and economic survival.
We will prioritise upgrading of all aging substations. We will invest in preventative maintenance, and we will professionalise the departments so qualified technicians are leading key infrastructure departments, not political deployees.
We fast track alternative energy solutions to reduce pressure on the grid and protect residents from unnecessary outages. And most importantly, we will ensure that blocked capital projects like the 240-million-rand Dukuza Substation get underway immediately, the time for excuses related to unreliable electricity must come to an end. Businesses in Ballito, KwaDukuza CBD and Shakaskraal simply cannot grow if the lights keep going out.
2. Fix the finances and protect your money.
Every ratepayer. Every business owner. Every family, this is your money. It doesn’t belong to officials or politicians. Right now, too much money is lost through poor management and weak internal controls. That ends, we will close revenue leaks, make sure every rand is spent properly and protect our vulnerable residents from unnecessary tariff increases. When finances are healthy , we can fix infrastructure, when we stop the leaks, we stop passing the bill to you.
3. Reliable basic services, in every ward can’t be a slogan.
Roads without potholes, stormwater than gets cleaned and refuse that gets collected are the definition of basic. This priority area is to focus the budget on the basics, and for money to be actually used on services, not lekgotlas, not ribbon cutting exercises and certainly not mayoral handshakes. When the basics work, businesses grow, when businesses grow, the jobs will follow.
4. Real consequences for corruption.
For far too long, people in senior positions have not been held accountable. It should be simple really. There must be consequences for wrongdoing. There must be standards for leadership, and appointments must be based on skill, not political connections. Integrity must become the culture of this municipality.
5. Lastly, stable leadership that puts our people first.
KwaDukuza is tired of chaos. We need leadership that is calm and focused about getting things done, not political infighting, not interfering and not playing political musical chairs. The priority is simple, stable decisive leadership. Everyone must know their job, and everyone must do their job.
Friends, I do not pretend to have all the answers. That is why, immediately after this campaign launches in full, I will embark on a listening tour of all 30 wards of KwaDukuza. Thirty wards, 30 conversations and 30 opportunities to listen before we lead. I want to sit with residents, small business, amakhosi, ratepayers and the youth. Not staged meetings, but authentic dialogue.
Let me be honest, politics is not gentle. There were moments this term when the criticism felt personal and the load felt heavy, but during those seasons, I was reminded why I started. There was an individual who constantly believed in me when I was tired and through my ugly cries reminded me that there will be a full circle moment. Dean, you reminded me that leadership is not tested when things are easy, it is tested when things are hard. So today I want to reaffirm to the people of KwaDukuza that I am up to the task ahead.
KwaDukuza raised me, shaped my values and taught me that community matters. To the women here today, step forward, to the youth who feel unheard, your voice matters. To the businesses that are ready to close shop, hold on. To the residents who have lost faith, remember change doesn’t happen in the council chambers first, it happens at the ballot box.
Together, we can build a KwaDukuza that works for everyone. I accept this nomination with humility and love for my people. The work begins now.