Speech delivered by Eastern Cape Leader, Andrew Whitfield.
Federal Leader, John Steenhuisen;
Federal Chairperson, Ivan Meyer ;
Ministers;
Deputy Ministers;
Provincial Leaders;
Members of Parliament and the Provincial Legislature;
Councillors,
And
Activists of the DA apha eMpuma Koloni
Fellow Democrats,
It is with a deep sense of humility that I accept this Congress’s uncontested election to lead our province for another three years. This is an endorsement of our hard work over the past three years in which we have built a strong foundation upon which we will continue to build.
I wish to congratulate our Provincial Chairperson, Yusuf Cassim, for his uncontested election as well as all other office bearers elected at this congress. I am grateful to those candidates who stood but did not prevail. You have participated in and made your contribution to our party’s unparalleled internal democratic processes. Thank you.
Democrats, when you elected me to this position in Graaf-Reinet three years ago, I committed to stability, progress and growth. I said we would build a high-performance machine to take the DA in the Eastern Cape forward into 2024. We achieved this goal. The DA Eastern Cape’s contribution to the 2024 national election result was important – we remained resilient overall and increased our votes in real terms from our lowest levels in a decade in 2021; we have achieved our highest membership numbers in the history of the DA Eastern Cape; we successfully concluded more branch AGMs than ever before; we defended our DA wards in tough by elections and we showed explosive growth in places like Ward 10 in Makana.
We did all of this in the most competitive political environment in the history of our province because we were disciplined, focussed and dedicated. While we must rightly celebrate what we have achieved over the last three years we must also acknowledge that much more needs to be done. The last three years have not been easy and the journey travelled between the last congress and this one was not a straight line. It was a journey marked by the vigorous defence of our values, the tireless pursuit of growth and the unrelenting passion of our activists to promote our party against overwhelming odds. At this congress I want to pay specific tribute to our dedicated activists whose footsteps in our Eastern Cape soil mark this journey. Phakama amaActivist !
At our last Congress we looked ahead to the historic 2024 election, today we take aim at the 2026 local election which will be our toughest and most important election yet. It is against this backdrop that I would like this Congress to recognise the extraordinarily hard work of our councillors, in particular our ward councillors, who have been working on the frontlines of municipal decay and collapse for years. This Congress salutes you!
On Thursday, in his State of the Province Address Premier Mabuyane confirmed that our province remains in crisis as we continue to battle devastating levels of unemployment and violent crime.
The third-quarter crime statistics show that kidnappings and violent crime remain deeply entrenched across the Eastern Cape.
A total of 185 kidnappings were reported in just three months, confirming that organised crime and violent syndicates continue to operate with alarming reach across the province.
Residents of the Eastern Cape remain the most likely in South Africa to be murdered or raped, demonstrating that the province continues to face a sustained crisis of violent crime.
Eight Eastern Cape police stations rank among the top 30 nationwide for murder, namely New Brighton, Mthatha, Kwazakhele, KwaNobuhle, Walmer, Bhityi, Ngcobo, and Ngqeleni.
The Eastern Cape’s official unemployment rate now stands at 42.5% with 79,000 jobs lost over the past year, while the DA run Western Cape created 95,000 over the same period! In rural areas of the province, the expanded rate of unemployment has now risen to 61.2%. This means that, on average, three out of every five working-age residents in rural Eastern Cape cannot find work.
On Thursday, at the State of the Province Address Premier Oscar Mabuyane had a chance to turn this sinking ship around with a credible plan, but he chose denial and the further collapse of the province.
The Premier should have committed to stabilising distressed municipalities, enforcing consequence management where there is failure, implementing a funded recovery plan to address the R30 billion roads maintenance backlog, ensuring that conditional grants are fully spent, and rolling out a comprehensive Water Supply Master Plan.
The DA remains adamant that the only solution to the crises facing our province is clear and measurable commitments to stabilise and grow the provincial economy, restore confidence in governance, and protect jobs.
This includes decisive intervention to improve service delivery in metros as engines of economic growth, a clear plan to diversify the economy beyond manufacturing and trade into sectors such as tourism and agriculture, and the implementation of a credible Automotive Sector Recovery Strategy that secures alternative export markets.
While the Premier remains in denial with no plan and no clue, it is up to us to rebuild safer communities and to grow our economy from the bottom up – town by town, city by city in the 2026 local government elections.
Right here in Nelson Mandela Bay, the home of the country’s automotive industry and a centre of manufacturing excellence, we have the opportunity to win, to govern and to deliver growth and jobs for the people of this great City. With Retief Odendaal as Executive Mayor, Nelson Mandela Bay will become a City of rising opportunity for all where growth and jobs are realised, world class services are delivered and crime and corruption are stopped in their tracks! When we catch the corrupt criminals, what are we going to do?
LOCK THEM UP! LOCK THEM UP! LOCK THEM UP!
You see, if we want to get the Eastern Cape working then we have to get its biggest Metro working and to get its biggest Metro working we need a DA government led by a Mayor who isn’t scared of working!
Now, if you are a voter in Nelson Mandela Bay and you don’t think the DA can get things done just ask the people of the DA majority governed Kouga Municipality right next door.
Kouga is our governance blueprint. Since 2016, DA-led governance in Kouga has demonstrated that clean, accountable and stable government changes lives. With the lowest unemployment rate in the province Kouga has become the most attractive municipality to live, work, play and invest. Recognised as the best-performing municipality in the Eastern Cape, Kouga was honoured at the 2025 Municipal Performance Awards as the best municipality in the province for excellence in financial management, stability and service delivery.
This the result of disciplined leadership under Mayor Hattingh Bornman and a DA-led government that understands that public money must serve the public. Kouga has received its second consecutive clean audit from the Auditor-General which means resources are not lost to corruption. They have invested in roads, infrastructure and services. Because of prudent financial management they were able to raise a R200 million loan in order to upgrade 70% of the municipal road network!
At a time when so many municipalities across the Eastern Cape are in financial distress, Kouga stands as a bright shining beacon of hope that proves that where the DA governs, we get things done!
In your corner! Fighting for you !
But our focus does not stop at Kouga and Nelson Mandela Bay.
In the Sarah Baartman District the Makana, Dr Beyers Naude, and Blue Crane Route local municipalities are key strategic battlegrounds, while we will also be focussing on Inxuba Yithemba Municipality. It is in these municipalities that residents are forced to live with sewerage running through streets filled with potholes, rubbish piles up uncollected, and water and electricity outages are a daily reality.
Makana is a tragic case in point with five consecutive audit disclaimers. Catastrophic deterioration of service delivery leading to extended water outages and widespread e-coli contamination have compromised the health of the residents and the local economy. To add insult to injury the ANC’s proposed relocation of the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court from Makhanda to Bhisho threatens not only 5,000 direct jobs but also the livelihoods of 25,000 dependents. We will fight this relocation tooth and nail – we will fight it on the ground, we will fight it in Bisho and we will fight it in Parliament. We will fight it because we care deeply about the people of Makana who will be left with a gaping hole in their economy if this relocation goes ahead.
In your corner! Fighting for you!
Yet, even in ANC-run municipalities such as Makana, the DA is shining its torch of hope and the people are seeing the light. In the November Ward 10 by-election in Makana, the DA grew from just 1.47% in 2021 to 26.38%. That is not just growth, it is a political earthquake. It shows that people across the province, in all communities believe in the DA to get things done.
In Dr Beyers Naude, residents are being deprived of basic services while millions will be spent on politically charged name changes decided by a flawed process. The DA supports reconciliation and redress but forcing name changes on communities without meaningful consultation does not reconcile communities it divides them. The DA is fighting these name changes with more than 18,500 residents have already lodged objections through the DA’s online portal, nearly 15,000 against the proposed change of Graaff-Reinet alone. At a time when people are struggling with failing services, government must focus on changing lives, not changing names.
In your corner! Fighting for you!
The municipalities of the Eastern Cape need the DA, it must be our focus to grow, to win, to govern and to deliver so we can get our towns and cities working.
Our municipalities are the bedrock of our economy, they are where every private investment lands, where almost every cent of public funds is ultimately spent, they are where people trade, grow their businesses and where jobs are created. The deterioration in the delivery of basic services has led to businesses closing down, property developers with mega-investments leaving town and thousands of jobs being lost leaving households without hope in their hearts and without food in their cupboards.
Unemployment in the Eastern Cape is out of control, for a number of reasons, but key among them is the collapse of our municipalities under the hand of the ANC, making them un-investable and in some cases unliveable. The Eastern Cape has produced some of the country and the world’s most industrious, enterprising, athletic and talented people but our government has not given them the platform to shine, to build and to prosper – in fact if you think about it the Eastern Cape has become a net exporter of the very talent that can get our province working. The ANC have given up on growth, they have given up on jobs, they have given up on safety and they have given up on the people of our province.
The good news is that the DA has never and will never give up on the people of the Eastern Cape. We are fighting and will continue to fight for the people of our province and the work of DA ministers in the Government of National Unity shows that the Eastern Cape is not a forgotten province for the DA.
In your corner ! Fighting for you !
Following a sustained campaign by Baxolile Nodada and the councillors and activists of Alfred Nzo, DA Minister of Public Works, Dean MacPherson, alongside local leaders, delivered the long-overdue upgrade of the Tebetebe suspension bridge in the Umzimvubu Local Municipality. Today, because of the DA children can get to school safely, pensioners can travel to collect their grants with dignity and businesses can transport goods and grow their businesses.
Phakhama Alfed Nzo, Phakhama!
Thanks to Yusuf Cassim’s tireless efforts over the years, within one year in office the DA’s Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, upgraded the Cleary Park Home Affairs office in the Northern Areas. Minister Schreiber has also opened a new and more modern facility at Baywest Mall right here in Nelson Mandela Bay, restoring dignity and access to citizens seeking basic services.
Staan Op Nelson Mandela Baai, Staan Op!
Following a request from Mayor Hattingh Bornman, the DA Minister of Communication and Digital Technologies, Solly Malatsi, just yesterday morning unveiled a brand new state of the art computer lab at Jeffreys Bay Comprehensive School in Kouga Municipality. This computer lab will empower the children at this school, connecting our youth to opportunities so that they can realise their full potential.
Staan op Kouga Staan op !
The DA Eastern Cape’s years long fight for dignified sanitation at schools was heard by the DA’s Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube. Following a request from the Mayor of Kouga to intervene with the stalled project to upgrade toilets at Pellsrus Primary School, Minister Gwarube visited the school in November 2025 and by January 2026 the school had functional toilets handed over to them.
Minister Gwarube’s leadership has led to 1,099 new Early Childhood Development centres registered last year in the Eastern Cape. We now have a total of 4,370 registered ECD programmes in the province serving 146,653 children.
The DA Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, is fighting for our farmers with our citrus farmers who contribute up to 25% of the country’s citrus production, enjoying improved market access, bolstering our trade receipts to record levels thereby bolstering this sector and our province’s economy and jobs.
These examples demonstrate how your provincial leadership have been able to drive issues to resolution by leveraging our position in the GNU to get things done.
In your corner! Fighting for you!
Democrats, I want us to pause at this moment and consider that our party, the Democratic Alliance, once called a desolate shack on the political landscape with just 1.7% in 1994 of the vote is now a party of government in more than 30 municipalities, 2 provincial governments and in national government.
At this point I want to thank our Leader, John Steenhuisen, for leading our party from our lows in 2019 to our highs in 2026 and for the dignified manner in which he has handed over the baton to a new generation of leaders to take the party forward. John, leadership is lonely and, more often than not, a thankless task – today we thank you.
Our growth as a party from 1.7% 32 years ago to where we are today is a remarkable achievement by any standard and we should all be proud. But it is also something for us to reflect upon with cautious optimism. Why do I say cautious optimism? Because winning elections is one thing, but delivering results is where the rubber hits the road. We must not take for granted the journey which got us here neither should we be complacent about the journey that lies ahead. The DA is held to a higher standard than any other political party, sometimes an impossible standard. But this is a good thing. This is what makes us better – it pushes us to do more, work harder and deliver. It is, however, also a risk in that the wheels of the state don’t turn as quickly as people expect them to leaving us vulnerable. It is therefore more important than ever before that in everything we do in government and opposition that we lead and fight with our values and that people feel our values by creating clear blue DA water between ourselves and our opponents.
Ultimately, our fight in councils, the provincial legislature and parliament must be fuelled by the values and principles which underpin a truly open, opportunity society for all so that we can deliver justice in our fight against crime, deliver freedom against the threat of populist tyranny and deliver prosperity against the crushing weight of poverty.
So democrats, as we leave this Congress today, I commit to work day in and day out to ensure that this great team remains mission focussed, purpose driven and fully committed to the fight that lies ahead, because I believe in the Eastern Cape.
I believe in a better future for our children
I believe in a province that rises up to meet its full potential
I believe in the people and their talent
I believe that we can unite our people and build a province that works for all.
Together …
we will build towns and cities that work;
we will restore dignity and hope to the hopeless;
we will fight for growth and jobs;
and we will fight for safer communities for all;
So, let’s get up, let’s go out and let’s fight to get the Eastern Cape working!