The following speech was delivery by Khathutshelo Rasilingwane MPL, upon her acceptance of the DA’s Nomination as Mayoral Candidate for Ekurhuleni:
Good morning, residents of Ekurhuleni and Democrats,
Today is a truly humbling moment for me.
Standing here, I cannot help but think about a young 10-year-old girl arriving in Gauteng for the very first time. A young girl who looked out the window and saw rows and rows of informal settlements stretching across the barren landscape. I remember turning to my mother and saying something that, as a child, felt honest and innocent: “ Mama, I don’t want to live there.”
Only a few months later, the very place I feared became my reality. Moriting Informal Settlement became my home.
It was there that life forced me to confront harsh, cold truths that no child should have to accept. There was no switch to turn on the lights. There was no tap to get running water, and there was no flushing toilet – only a pit latrine. Conditions that were not just difficult, but inhumane.
For many people, such grinding poverty breaks their spirit. But for me, Moriting did something different. It ignited a fire for justice within me.
Every day I looked around and realised something profound: this was not the way people were meant to live – they deserved better.
What pains me the most today is the realisation that, many years later, there are still so many young children growing up in the very same conditions I did. Children who look around at their living conditions and tell the exact same story that I am telling today.
That is why I knew from a young age that I could not stay silent, that something had to change.
I had to add my voice to the fight against poverty, against indignity, and against a government that had forgotten the very people it was elected to serve.
To support our family, my mother worked as a street vendor selling fruits and vegetables. We did not have very much, but what we did have was resilience, discipline, and a deep belief that our lives could be better.
We lived through the daily reality of a failing local government, where service delivery was non-existent. From being bitten by rats in our little shack to watching our dusty streets filled with trash. We know what it is like to be forgotten by our government.
It is these experiences that have shaped my dedication to freedom, justice, and public service.
In 2016, I had the honour of becoming a councillor in the City of Ekurhuleni. I entered public office believing that just as generations before us stood up against apartheid, our generation too has a duty to challenge the injustices of our time and serve the forgotten communities of Ekurhuleni.
Because the injustices we face today may look different, but they are no less harmful.
Corruption.
Collapsing service delivery.
Joblessness
And a government that refuses to serve the people.
I knew then, and I still know today, that my voice must remain part of the fight to restore dignity to our communities by delivering services, growing our economy, and creating jobs.
Today, I stand here with deep gratitude that the Democratic Alliance has seen something in me. Not perfect. But a heart dedicated to rebuilding this city and making it more prosperous for everyone.
Because what has been normalised in recent years should not be accepted as our true reality.
Ekurhuleni is a city of nearly four million people. Four million people who deserve a government that works.
And I believe those four million people will stand up and be counted as we reclaim our city from the criminals who have looted and broken it.
The work ahead of us will not be easy.
But it is urgent.
And it is necessary.
We will fight for the people of Tembisa who have gone weeks without water for drinking or bathing.
We will fight for the residents of Kempton Park who experience endless electricity outages while their food rots.
We will fight for the people of Daveyton who wait weeks for refuse to be collected while it piles up on their pavements.
We will fight for the residents of Boksburg who risk their lives navigating dangerous, pothole-filled roads every day.
We will fight for every resident of Ekurhuleni who diligently pays for services each month but does not receive them.
We have all heard the harrowing stories that have been told at the Madlanga Commission, we have all read about the assassination of whistleblowers in Ekurhuleni and we have all seen projects like the Clayville mega housing project stall for years. Every resident in Ekurhuleni has paid for the inflated costs of the SAAME building which ballooned from 47 million to over 300 million rand and is still not complete!
The people of this city deserve more than a doomsday coalition that steals their money, breaks their city and puts lives and livelihoods at risk. They deserve a government that works.
What we see in Ekurhuleni today is absolutely unacceptable.
We have criminals in charge of our government, that have looted our public finances, broken our infrastructure, and collapsed our services.
Let me state this clearly: Under a DA-led Ekurhuleni, we will not tolerate the capture of the institutions meant to serve our people.
Our foremost priority now is to rebuild our city and get it working again. And only the Democratic Alliance has a plan to rescue Ekurhuleni:
We will crush corruption and ensure that public money is used to deliver basic services.
We will build a professional, capable administration where officials are appointed based on merit, not political connections.
We will fix the basics of local government by ensuring a reliable water supply, stabilising electricity infrastructure, providing refuse collection, and filling pot-holed roads.
We will make our communities safer by empowering law enforcement agencies to protect residents and enforce bylaws.
Finally, we can grow our city’s economy by cutting red tape, restoring basic services, and attracting investment, which will create new opportunities for all residents.
Because a working city is the foundation for dignity, and dignity is what every resident of Ekurhuleni deserves.
Before I close, I want to express my deepest gratitude:
To the Democratic Alliance for entrusting me with this enormous responsibility.
To my family, who have walked this long journey with me and supported me through every challenge. Whose sacrifices engrained in me a work ethic and determination that I carry with me every day. To my mother, who left the ANC very early, choosing to put her belief in the values of the Democratic Alliance, to my sister who stands with me as my rock, and to my son whose love and admiration sees me through unending days.
To my mentor, who believed in my potential and guided me along the way, even on days I felt I was not good enough.
To my constituents and the communities that have trusted me to represent them in council and the provincial legislature.
And to the democrats who applied for this opportunity alongside me, your commitment to this city strengthens our internal democracy and reflects the healthy competition that makes our movement stronger. I look forward to taking hands with you to get our beloved city working.
But most importantly, I want to thank the people of Ekurhuleni for their enduring resilience and commitment to making our city a better place to live.
I know what it feels like to grow up in a community that the government has forgotten. I know what it means to live without basic services. I know the pain and frustration of watching promises not being kept.
And that is why I stand here today, carrying the story of every forgotten community and person in this city, and I will not stop until we get our city working for everyone. I accept the DA’s nomination to stand as the Mayoral Candidate for Ekurhuleni!
So today, I ask every resident of this great city to join the fight in taking our city back.
For clean and competent governance.
For affordable and reliable basic services.
For a growing local economy that attracts investment and creates jobs.
Together, we will rebuild our city. Together, we will make our city a better place to live. And, together we will create a prosperous Ekurhuleni.