---
title: "DA’s local government plan eyes the private sector, devolving policing"
description: "The DA has promised to get rid of corruption in municipalities, ring-fence revenue for electricity and water, and to bring in the private sector to boost many service areas. Let’s assess its manifesto."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "MANIFESTO"
author: "Ferial Haffajee"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/ferialhaffajee/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-08-11-da-s-local-government-plan-eyes-the-private-sector-devolving-policing/"
published: "2026-08-11T21:32:17"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 1705
---

# DA’s local government plan eyes the private sector, devolving policing

> The DA has promised to get rid of corruption in municipalities, ring-fence revenue for electricity and water, and to bring in the private sector to boost many service areas. Let’s assess its manifesto.

By Ferial Haffajee · Published 11 August 2026, 23:32 SAST

## Key points
- The DA wants to devolve powers to “capable” municipalities and ring‑fence water and electricity revenue, while letting cities buy/sell power and encouraging rooftop solar — a sensible electricity plan, but water concessions risk higher prices unless regulators are airtight.
- Expect a big roll‑out of PPPs: waste, roads, sanitation, even landfill and water treatment would be opened to private operators — could cut costs and boost capacity, but risks privatising the public sphere and sidelining informal recyclers.
- Policing would be pushed down to metros via a “plural policing” mix of municipal cops, neighbourhood watches, private capacity and tech (drones, lights) — promising given national intelligence collapse, but depends on municipal competence and oversight.
- Good on transport integration, red‑tape cuts and releasing public land for housing; weaker on tackling spatial inequality, homelessness, addiction strategy and how the DA will keep coalition governments stable and participatory.

## Content

The DA wants more power devolved to capable municipalities, particularly over electricity, transport and policing. And where councils lack money, skills or capacity, it wants a significantly greater role for the private sector – financing, maintaining and, in some cases, operating municipal services.

![Fer-DA-manifesto](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/npgWsGkP9lAjkYcu8TYulFpS304=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/IMG_8962_873110.jpg)

*DA Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille addresses the party’s 2026 Manifesto Launch at Mary Fitzgerald Square, Johannesburg, on 8 August 2026. (Photo: Reitumetse Pilane)*

So how does it fare against Daily Maverick’s common-sense manifesto test? We’ve created 10 checks, and a question about how the party thinks and behaves in a coalition government.

#### 1. Turn on the taps

The DA promises to ringfence water and sanitation revenue for replacing old pipes, fixing leaks and upgrading wastewater systems.

It wants to “unlock private investment in water infrastructure through public-private partnerships” and make long-term service concessions easier. It proposes amending Section 33 of the Municipal Finance Management Act to expedite PPP and concession agreements lasting more than three years.

![Fer-DA-manifesto](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/fWEhMv7zeNIxQk4hhm0mxVE4jF8=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/IMG_9022_549848.jpg)

*DA Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate Khathutshelo Rasilingwane at the party’s 2026 Manifesto Launch at Mary Fitzgerald Square, Johannesburg, on 8 August 2026. (Photo: Reitumetse Pilane)*

Municipalities can remain as the water authority and regulator, while a separate provider can manage water supply and distribution.

For example: Cape Town’s New Water Programme aims to add 300 million litres a day by 2031, using groundwater, water reuse, infrastructure improvements and eventually, desalination.

**Verdict:** In many parts of the world, privatising water supply raises prices and reduces supply. In South Africa, corrupt local councils have done the same. Water is a public good to be managed publicly. You’d better have excellent regulators in place to ensure that private concessions work for the public.

#### 2. Keep the lights on

![SA electricity shake-up might plug billing gaps, but sparks will fly](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/cFRgjRZIdSgR-0wnzs1sXoyqFRg=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/2996/2026-08-06_05-59-47_113437.jpeg)

*A South African electricity shake-up might plug billing gaps, but sparks will fly. (Illustrative image: Paper sheet. Photo: iStock | Lightbulb.)*

The same philosophy drives electricity to homes and businesses.

Electricity revenue can be ringfenced for the grid, but the DA also wants municipalities freed to buy and sell their own electricity, rather than remaining dependent on Eskom. Residents with rooftop solar can sell surplus electricity back into the system.

![Fer-DA-manifesto](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/ZHmGXRU0FJa_znMlW0z3dp8DfnM=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/IMG_9138_402231.jpg)

*DA supporters at the party’s 2026 Manifesto Launch at Mary Fitzgerald Square, Johannesburg, on 8 August 2026. (Photo: Reitumetse Pilane)*

Private companies can participate in electricity trading, wheeling and network management.

For example: The manifesto says Cape Town’s renewable energy programme has protected City-supplied customers from up to two stages of load shedding.

**Verdict:** This is a good plan. Tip-backs from solar to reduce your electricity bill should be simple and easy, while extending solar to poor and working-class areas will bring down the punishing tax that most municipalities now levy in the form of a prepaid charge.

#### 3. Fill the potholes

![Potholes, like this one in Bloemfontein, are one of the factors that contribute to fatal bus crashes. (Photo: Mlungisi Louw / Gallo Images / Volksblad)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/0e2iPg98Y1Zb8wFX-WtHW1bx_s4=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ED_550690.jpg)

*Potholes like this one in Bloemfontein are among the factors that contribute to fatal bus crashes. (Photo: Mlungisi Louw / Gallo Images / Volksblad)*

The DA promises better-maintained roads, intersections, traffic lights and signage, with PPPs used where appropriate.

Devolution appears here too: the party wants passenger rail devolved to capable metros, and public transport eventually integrated through a single smart ticket covering rail, BRT, buses and taxis.

For example: Cape Town’s “Getting YOU to Work” jobseeker travel voucher initiative provides free bus trips to unemployed job seekers. The manifesto says more than 24,000 people have been supported by it.

**Verdict:**The transport promises are good.

#### 4. Sort out the sh\*\*t

![“I want these useless municipal officials to feel the same pain of living with a rotten bucket for weeks,” said this woman who was making a second trip to empty the overflowing toilets on to the road. (Photo: Mkhuseli Sizani)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/AJkFm6hVVeiy69kXd2wlXf_oLdk=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/govan_mbeki_village.jpeg)

*‘I want these useless municipal officials to feel the same pain of living with a rotten bucket for weeks,’ said this woman, making a second trip to empty overflowing toilets on to the road. (File photo: Mkhuseli Sizani)*

The DA promises flushing toilets, and the eradication of bucket and pit toilets.

It wants to ringfence sanitation revenue and accelerate investment in wastewater treatment – including partnering with private operators with greater capacity and skills to upgrade treatment plants under performance and cost controls.

**Verdict:**The DA’s proof-of-concept city, Cape Town, has yet to show the goods here. But its line-item budgeting for sanitation infrastructure is better than most municipalities.

#### 5. Light up our streets, fight crime

![Andisa-Finances](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/xXIBeNvWShCBtS0xjCtMc6X-Ryg=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/DSC_9541-copy_676903.jpg)

*Streetlights in large parts of Nelson Mandela Bay have been dark for months. Motorists navigate dark streets on the William Moffett Expressway, one of Gqeberha’s busiest roads, on 25 June 2026. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)*

This is one of the manifesto’s most important propositions.

The DA wants policing to be brought closer to local government, with greater powers and resources devolved to capable municipalities. Its “plural policing model” combines municipal police, neighbourhood watches, community patrols and – where appropriate – privately funded capacity, backed by technology including drones.

[FOR CONTEXT

Drones quietly watch over Nelson Mandela Bay as crime-fighting gets a sharper edge

July 28, 2026 ![Image](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/ecZWUX4qEyjet7gbY2Lz5ZUCCOg=/450x0/smart/file/attachments/orphans/MBDADrones2_414052.jpeg)](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-07-28-drones-quietly-watch-over-nelson-mandela-bay-as-crime-fighting-gets-a-sharper-edge/)

Streetlights become part of that crime strategy: better lighting on dangerous routes, safer routes to schools, and environmental design that makes public spaces harder for criminals to exploit. Simple solutions like cutting the grass to establish a clear line of sight.

**Verdict:** Good. A shared intelligence model is important with the collapse of crime intelligence at the national police service.

#### 6. Clean up our towns and cities

![A skip ready to be dispatched for recycling.](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/XkPst_-CKe5W-FlRrd_I__S6txQ=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/TGRC_Buy-Back-Centres-252.jpg)

*A skip ready to be dispatched for recycling. (File photo: Buy-Back-Centres, 8 July 2025.)*

Here, too, the private sector gets a bigger role.

The DA proposes PPPs for refuse and recycling, where they can cut costs, have private contractors to maintain waste fleets and potentially lease rubbish trucks rather than municipalities owning them. It also raises the idea of privately owned landfills and more waste-to-energy projects.

![Fer-DA-manifesto](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/rg2z7y6JRxRerHDyYxDFUFynVMg=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/IMG_9001_645897.jpg)

*DA supporters at the party’s 2026 Manifesto Launch at Mary Fitzgerald Square, Johannesburg, on 8 August 2026. (Photo: Reitumetse Pilane)*

For example: Cape Town issued 580 illegal-dumping fines in three months, while whistleblowers can earn cash rewards for information leading to convictions.

**Verdict:**There isn’t enough focus on how to empower informal waste recyclers and make them essential stakeholders or rights-holders.

#### 7. Help us hustle

![joburg-hustle-economy-young-entrepreneurs](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/fDsNTSH8JYSTDZlzWpo4CKd-ua0=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/IMG_38871_895175.jpeg)

*Olivia Rolivhuwa Makhavhu outside the Johannesburg premises where she sells to school children. (File photo: Olivia Rolivhuwa Makhavhu, Johannesburg, 26 February 2025.)*

This section assesses manifestos on their plans to help entrepreneurs start businesses and to assist unemployed people to get jobs.

The DA wants a local government that gets out of entrepreneurs’ way: cutting red tape, simplifying permits, and introducing a “silence-is-consent” rule for some applications not processed on time.

![Fer-DA-manifesto](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/aAkWefHQdlPQVx23oML5BIWU3YE=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/IMG_8971_771878.jpg)

*DA supporters at the party’s 2026 Manifesto Launch at Mary Fitzgerald Square, Johannesburg, on 8 August 2026. (Photo: Reitumetse Pilane)*

Informal traders would receive simpler electronic registration and designated trading spaces with water, sanitation, lighting and Wi-Fi. The policy emphasises a one-stop shop for local investors, and on the philosophy that strong local economies attract investors and drive growth, creating employment.

**Verdict:**Good, but don’t forget social housing, affordable rents and utility costs for small businesses.

#### 8. A home for all

![Protesters march during the Peoples Land March on August 23, 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa. The group is demanding that the officials take bold steps to break with the past and advance the human rights of residents in this city struggling to access land, security of tenure and decent housing. (Photo: Gallo Images / Ziyaad Douglas)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/ZKVgM28J_tqjJO13x-3jjk8LaKk=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ED_464887.jpg)

*Protesters marching during the People’s Land March on 23 August, 2023 in Cape Town. The group was demanding that officials take bold steps to break with the past and to advance the human rights of city residents struggling to access land, security of tenure and decent housing. (Photo: Gallo Images / Ziyaad Douglas)*

The DA wants to release well-located public land for affordable and mixed-use development, encourage medium-density housing and change zoning to allow more mixed-income neighbourhoods.

For example: Cape Town’s “Title-Deed-to-Door” programme has delivered more than 6,600 title deeds.

The manifesto is stronger on housing supply and ownership than on what municipalities should do about homelessness now.

**Verdict:**This is where the DA is weakest. The recent Constitutional Court judgment on the Tafelberg school site sale has shown that the DA in Cape Town has not paid sufficient attention to reducing spatial inequalities in housing, whilst its investment policies have made wealthy property developers richer than they ever expected to be.

The Daily Maverick series on municipal planning shows the system is geared to favour developers over the public.

#### 9. Break the nyaope curse

![A Nyaope addict prepares his next hit, Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo: Sharon Seretlo / Gallo Images)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/MRhMAhMwH0xM33mJ3w8eYS6-FsA=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ED_172270.jpg)

*A nyaope addict prepares his next hit in Johannesburg. (Photo: Sharon Seretlo / Gallo Images)*

The DA proposes using underused municipal land for drug treatment, education and employment programmes, working with NGOs and also expanding after-school sport, arts and cultural activities.

**Verdict:** It is a useful start, but not a fully developed municipal addiction strategy.

#### 10. Give us a city or town worth living in

![Photos-Library](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/XlHYZy1irNI1O-DLepvdwN-f8To=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Library-7_471693.jpg)

*The Port Elizabeth Main Library has been closed to the public for a while, due to ongoing revamps and construction. But the Friends of the Main Library turned the historic building into a sought-after attraction by arranging tours for cruise ship visitors. This photo was taken during a visit arranged for Daily Maverick readers. (Photo: Riaan Marais)*

The DA promises better parks, libraries, clinics and sports facilities, again allowing partnerships with private organisations.

But on Daily Maverick’s question about ward committees and meaningful public participation, the manifesto is comparatively thin.

#### 11. What’s the party’s coalition strategy? Will it play nicely?

![oped-Booysen-coalitions1](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/pl74sb05XSkN-Q_Ng4d-NgSLrXk=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Coalitions26SusanB_935491.png)

*Coalitions are expected to become more entrenched after the 2026 Local Government Elections. (Graphic: Kevin Momberg, 5 August 2026.)*

For a manifesto so concerned with unstable and dysfunctional councils, there is surprisingly little detail about how the DA intends to make the coalition government stable. Polls show hung councils will be the order of the day after the 4 November 2026 poll.

**What’s cool:** There’s a lot that is cool, like the water use and provision sections, notwithstanding our concerns about private concessions. The public transport ideas are good, and we like the local crime-fighting apps a lot.

![Fer-DA-manifesto](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/KeZE_rleNEyaJx0UMtxbDSXShtI=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/IMG_9017_402530.jpg)

*DA Tshwane mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink addresses the party’s 2026 Manifesto Launch at Mary Fitzgerald Square, Johannesburg, on 8 August 2026. (Photo: Reitumetse Pilane)*

We also like party leader Geordin Hill-Lewis’s statement at the launch, which said municipal services should be so seamless that we don’t notice them – not something you have to plan your day around.

**Reality check:** Outsourcing so many things to the private sector is dangerous. The public square and the public sphere must be made capable, well-funded, and serve for service, not for profit.

This is not an ideological point but one that is true if you look at the failed trail of believing the private sector is a panacea for public service. **DM**