Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen used a campaign rally for Nelson Mandela Bay mayoral candidate Retief Odendaal on Monday to draw a sharp line between what he called: “a government of ideology and identity” and one: “that puts people at the centre.”

Addressing residents in the Friendly City, Steenhuisen said the DA’s vision was for: “a competent, caring government that works for the people.” Unlike other parties, he said, the DA would not make promises it could not keep.

He said the Eastern Cape’s potential was being squandered by corruption and neglect. “Over the past three years, more than R1.3 billion in infrastructure funding has gone unspent even as services collapse. Families go without water or electricity when they’re preparing meals and their children need to do homework,” Steenhuisen said.

Citing the metro’s energy governance issues, he said Nelson Mandela Bay’s energy directorate had overspent by R707 million while failing to use R152 million budgeted for maintenance. “They buy fancy cars for themselves but don’t fix the lights,” he said, calling it: “a shocking dereliction of duty.”

Corruption and weak policing were eroding safety and tourism, he added, with violence and poor infrastructure undermining jobs. “If tourism suffers, Nelson Mandela Bay will suffer too because many tourists transit through here or depend on Bay-based services,” he warned.

Steenhuisen told voters not to: “experiment with small parties that end up swallowed by the same coalitions that broke the city,” saying this election was: “about getting service delivery back.”