EKURHULENI - The DA is setting its sights on an outright win in the Ekurhuleni metro.
This is a challenge set by Deputy Federal Chairperson Siviwe Gwarube.
She was speaking at the DA's rally in Ekurhuleni, saying the party wants a clear majority so it can govern the metro alone.
At the same time, she's not ruling out coalition talks if they fail to get the desired majority.
"You don't go into an election with the view to go into a coalition. You go into an election solely with the purpose of winning. And we are putting everything and throwing everything in the kitchen sink here.
"As much as we are working with the ANC at a national level and the GNU, the truth of the matter is we're still the Democratic Alliance and we still have to sell our unique selling proposition to the people of Ekurhuleni and everywhere else around the country. To say they must give us a solid majority so we can govern alone. We've seen what we can do in the City of Cape Town when we don't have to share power, when we have actually changed the lives of people.
"So it's not to say we are ruling out any coalition arrangements, but what we are saying is that we're not going to this election wanting to coalesce. We are wanting to say to the people of Ekurhuleni they can give us a solid mandate and we can win outright."
At the same time, the DA also raised concerns about the safety of women in communities.
Gwarube wants to see more being done to ensure these crimes lead to successful convictions.
The DA is calling for closer cooperation between SAPS and metro police.
"The SAPS needs to be capacitated with greater investigating powers, but also more capacity to be able to investigate these crimes. The worst thing that a woman can ever experience is being one, either killed or number two, seeing their perpetrator walking the streets way after they've reported the matter. This happens way too often in our country.
"Therefore, the SAPS needs to be capacitated enough so that they are able to lead to successful convictions."