The Democratic Alliance (DA) has entered full-on opposition mode in local politics, aiming to bolster its stake in local governance.

"They want to take more municipalities because that's how they will weaken the ANC. The fact that they've opened their applications so early for councilor nominations and training says they are hitting the ground running before other parties. They also don't want to be caught off guard by the MK again come 2026," a DA insider told IOL.

The comments come as DA officials have changed gears in recent weeks- shifting from playing nice guys and GNU partners to being more vociferous in their criticism of the ANC. In KZN - particularly. eThekwini - the third largest metropolitan municipality in the country, the DA has intensified its rubble rousing using service delivery issues. It's an easy target for the DA as local governance is fractious and the city manager, Musa Mbhele, an easy prey. The municipality is part of a turnaround strategy headed by a presidential task team. The council is currently run by a mixed-party representation and commands a whopping budget of R67.2 billion. But its continually under attack over its leadership as political parties jostle to be heard and seen.

Given the dynamics and budget at stake, it's no surprise that the DA is going for the jugular in politics. In recent days it criticised the city's mayor, Cyril Xaba, over spending on a workshop out of the city in and before that, demanded the removal of city manager, Musa Mbhele over his handling of the city's water crisis.

"They've definitely upped the ante in recent weeks and I'm sure it's because of an instruction from the Federal Executive that this is the strategy for the local elections. The DA will play nice nationally and put up a front in the interests of the public image of the Government of National Unity (GNU) but their focus is now on the 2026 local elections. They want to govern locally to prove what difference they can do so all this noise is part of that strategy,' added the insider.

The DA's power at the local municipality level currently spreads across 38 of the country's 257 municipalities. The party either governs as a majority or in coalition with others - mainly GNU partners.

IOL