Potchefstroom, North West — The Democratic Alliance is launching its North West provincial manifesto in Potchefstroom as the party enters the closing stretch of its campaign ahead of the 4 November local government elections, promising a return to basic municipal services and setting out an explicit strategy for coalition government.
DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis is expected to deliver the keynote address at the launch, outlining the party’s commitments to residents of the JB Marks Municipality, the local authority that includes Potchefstroom.
The launch gives the DA a national platform in one of the North West’s most closely watched municipalities, where the party expects the election to be decided not by a single majority winner but by the negotiations that follow polling day.
DA targets 15 of JB Marks’ 34 wards
Dr Freddy Sonakile, the DA’s North West leader and a member of the provincial legislature, said the party had done its groundwork locally and remained confident as campaigning moved into its final phase.
The DA currently holds nine wards in JB Marks and is targeting 15 in the upcoming elections, Sonakile said. With the municipality already tracking below the 50% mark required for a single-party majority, he argued that every additional seat would improve the DA’s bargaining position when coalition discussions begin.
The objective, he said, is to grow the party’s share of the council so that it enters those negotiations with something substantive to offer.
Among the candidates carrying the DA’s message on the ground in JB Marks is former academic Theo Venter, who has joined the party’s campaign trail in the municipality.
Coalition talks with the ANC are not off the table
The 2021 local government elections left the ANC with 33 seats in JB Marks — short of an outright majority — and forced coalition arrangements to determine control of the council. Sonakile said the DA was preparing for a similar outcome after 4 November.
The party is willing to speak to every political participant, he said, including the ANC. He identified the EFF as a red flag because of fundamental differences in policy, and also referenced the MK party when describing the broader field of political forces the DA would have to navigate.
His central message, however, was openness. Rather than waiting for other parties to make the first move, Sonakile said the DA would itself approach the ANC and invite it to the negotiating table.
He added that almost all municipalities in the North West were expected to finish below 50%, meaning parties across the province would have to confront the reality of coalition government from 5 November onward.
Manifesto promises a return to basic services
Campaigning under the slogan “A JB Marks that works,” the DA is building its provincial offer around a single message: bringing back the basics of local government.
Sonakile said the manifesto would set out the party’s plan for water and sanitation, electricity and the deployment of the services and capacity that every municipality is supposed to provide residents.
The pitch to Potchefstroom is deliberately pointed. Sonakile argued that the area should have developed into a city long ago, and said the DA would present a roadmap to bring the municipality to the standard it should have reached 20 years ago.
The launch, he said, is an opportunity to sell that offer directly to North West voters rather than speak in generalities about good governance.
A dedicated team to handle coalition negotiations
The DA has also taken steps to avoid the instability that has characterised some coalition arrangements elsewhere in the country.
Sonakile said the party had drawn lessons from coalitions formed in other provinces and cities, and had established a dedicated coalition talks team within the organisation.
That team is being trained and coached on how to manage the disputes, procedural traps and political complications that can emerge when no party holds a majority. The aim, he said, is to ensure the DA enters negotiations prepared rather than improvising after the votes are counted.
Provincial target lifted from 13% to 25%
Beyond JB Marks, Sonakile set out the DA’s broader ambition for the province.
The party currently sits at about 13% in the North West and is targeting 25%, a figure he said he believed was achievable.
Two municipalities are central to that strategy: JB Marks and Rustenburg. Both are firmly in the DA’s sights as it attempts to translate provincial momentum into control of local councils.
Supporters converge as Hill-Lewis prepares to address the rally
By the time of the launch, banners were up, the stage was set and supporters were already filling the seating area in Potchefstroom.
Hundreds more were arriving by bus as the crowd continued to build, with both provincial and national DA leadership expected to address supporters.
The speeches are meant to do two jobs at once: share the party’s vision for the North West and issue what amounted to marching orders for campaigners in the final days before the polls.
With fewer than three weeks remaining until voters go to the polls, the DA’s message in Potchefstroom was clear — win enough seats to matter, be ready to negotiate, and promise residents the basic services they believe the municipality has failed to deliver.
