CAPE TOWN, Western Cape — The political landscape of the Mother City is shifting as ActionSA officially enters the race for the upcoming local government elections, naming Dereleen James as their Cape Town mayoral candidate. Stepping into a fiercely contested arena, the Member of Parliament is positioning herself as a grassroots alternative to the current administration, promising to tackle deep-seated inequality and service delivery failures across the metropolis.
The campaign rollout was marked by immediate political friction. According to James, the Democratic Alliance (DA) scheduled its own mayoral announcement at the exact same time and just two minutes away from the ActionSA event. Rather than feeling overshadowed by the DA’s heavy media deployment and live-streaming tactics, James dismissed the scheduling clash as “petty.” She interpreted the maneuver as a compliment, suggesting the ruling party views ActionSA as a formidable threat rather than an insignificant fringe movement.
While rival parties rely on massive, single-day media blitzes, James emphasized that her connection with voters is built on daily, on-the-ground activism. She noted her constant presence in volatile areas of the Cape Flats, particularly during outbreaks of gang violence, arguing that true community engagement cannot be manufactured for a single press conference.
The Inequality Debate and Infrastructure Promises
A major focal point of her platform is the city’s stark economic divide. DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis has frequently defended the city’s record, touting a R40 billion multi-year infrastructure pipeline that allocates roughly R9 billion annually to township upgrades. James strongly disputes the visibility of these investments on the ground.
She challenged Hill-Lewis to look past the affluent inner city and inspect neglected commercial hubs in Manenberg, Mitchell’s Plain, Delft, and Philippi. She pointed to deteriorating town centers where basic maintenance is ignored, and local economies are heavily influenced by undocumented foreign nationals, citing a recent arrest of 79 individuals operating illegally near a Department of Education building.
Affordability and Marginalization
James argued that two decades of DA governance have resulted in widespread marginalization. She highlighted an escalating affordability crisis where elderly residents are forced to choose between buying groceries and paying for electricity. Furthermore, she criticized the city’s aggressive bylaw enforcement against informal traders, noting that vulnerable families running small spaza shops face crippling fines of up to R800,000 for selling basic items like tea bags without complex business registrations. She also pointed to the stalled District Six restitution process, where residents have waited over 30 years for housing.
Crime, Safety, and Social Interventions
On the critical issue of safety, James acknowledged the DA’s commendable clean audits and sound financial governance. However, she stressed that good paperwork does not equate to safe streets, especially in a city contributing disproportionately to national crime statistics. The DA maintains that gang violence is a national policing failure and advocates for the devolution of police powers while expanding their localized LEAP law enforcement framework and offering R20,000 cash rewards for actionable tip-offs.
James rejected the strategy of waiting for national police devolution. She argued that combating the drug and gang crisis requires an immediate, holistic “social and economic win.” This includes fully funding the local drug action committee—mandated by the National Drug Master Plan—and implementing aggressive interventions to get loitering youth off the streets and back into functional classrooms. She also highlighted systemic failures, such as malfunctioning Shot Spotter technologies and elderly citizens being forced to queue at public clinics as early as 4:00 AM.
A Call for Empathy Over Politics
Addressing critics who question her grasp of Western Cape political dynamics due to her background as a grassroots activist, James maintained that the province needs practical empathy over political maneuvering. Highlighting the tragedy of abandoned children sleeping in Hanover Park and the Pelosa, she concluded that “people don’t eat politics.” Her ultimate goal, she stated, is to restore dignity, prioritize family reunification, and deliver the basic human needs that she believes the current administration has failed to provide to the city’s most vulnerable populations.