Cape Town mayor and Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Geordin Hill-Lewis has appealed to voters to give the party an outright majority on 4 November and allow it to continue governing without the instability that follows coalitions.

Addressing the DA’s final Western Cape rally at Erica Park Sports Complex in Belhar, Cape Town, Hill-Lewis punted the party’s record on jobs, public safety, and services, saying that this was the foundation for another successful term.

The DA has faced stiff opposition from parties seeking to cut into the DA’s support and Hill-Lewis warned that a result forcing the party into coalition arrangements could threaten the success that the party had recorded in local government.

The event took place in a carnival atmosphere – one speaker jovially telling the audience that “we promised you a party” in recognition of the hard work done on the campaign – amid a sea of blue shirts and party banners. Entertainment was laid on by artists including Kurt Darren, Salome, Early B, and the Eastern Cape’s All Stars.

Hill-Lewis said the DA had experienced the difficulties of coalition government in Cape Town before securing an outright majority, and urged supporters to help the party avoid a return to that situation. This has been a consistent message in the DA’s campaign across the country.

“Already in many towns in this province we have seen what chaos comes with coalition governments,” he told the crowd. “And the people paid the price for this chaos.”

“Our people cannot afford the parties of chaos like the PA, ANC, GOOD, and EFF in government.”

He told supporters that every vote would count in determining the outcome.

The appeal was backed by a message centred on the everyday services residents expect from their municipalities. Hill-Lewis pointed to clean water coming from taps, working streetlights, regular rubbish collection, and public swimming pools where children could swim.

“These things may not always make national headlines,” he said. “But they make a big difference to the lives of real people.”

He added: “And we should never accept that good basic services are somehow too much to expect. We should expect them everywhere, for everyone.”

Employment, the central concern for South Africa’s people for decades, constituted another central theme. Safer communities, reliable basic services, professional government, and a growing local economy were essential to creating jobs – something in which Hill-Lewis said the DA excelled.

“And when we make our towns safer and when we invest in the community, something amazing happens. Do you know what happens? Jobs come, jobs arrive. The towns and the cities that are DA-governed have created more jobs than any other place in the country over the last five years. Here is the basic rule that we can all follow: Where the DA governs, jobs follow.”

Hill-Lewis went on to criticise national policing under the ANC and pointed to Cape Town’s expansion of its metro police service and the launch of a specialised SWAT and drone unit. The DA and the city have been proactively arguing for expanding policing responsibilities at local level.

The rally’s message was for the people of the province to endorse the DA to build on its record, and to extend it across the province to those towns where the party had not been able to secure majorities. It emphasised that good government had to be demonstrated through delivery, rather than taken for granted.

Another speaker, East Region chair Venolea Fortuin, took to the stage to pledge that “good governance is not a trophy you win once. It is a promise you must honour every single day.”