The Democratic Alliance is a liberal party championing a capable, professional state, market-friendly economics, non-racialism and constitutionalism. At local level it campaigns on corruption-free administration and its governing record in the Western Cape and municipalities such as Midvaal.
In the 2021 local elections the DA won 1,496 council seats across 202 municipalities, mostly in the Western Cape (404), Gauteng (303) and the Eastern Cape (168). It holds the mayor's office in 27 councils today, including Beaufort West, Bergrivier, Bitou, Breede Valley, Cape Agulhas, Cape Town and 21 more.
A match on these questions is not agreement with a party's whole programme. Here are other policies we did not ask you about.
Other recorded policies from Democratic Alliance
Rejects NHI (National Health Insurance); offers universal coverage spanning public and private care.
Opposition to the current NHI model
A shared direction does not mean identical plans, funding or conditions.Raise the child grant to the food poverty line; widen VAT-exempt foods.
Increasing existing grant payments
A shared direction does not mean identical plans, funding or conditions.Selected policies, not a full manifesto or ballot list. National policies are context, not powers a council can exercise on its own. Local plans can also need other agencies. Read dates and sources before deciding.
Ringfence utility revenue: every rand collected for water or electricity is protected for that service, not a political slush fund
weekendargus.co.zaAppoint municipal staff on merit, end cadre deployment, and make accounting officers personally repay negligent losses
weekendargus.co.zaCut off residents who refuse to pay or connect illegally, and charge cost-reflective tariffs
weekendargus.co.zaBring in private operators to run water, electricity and waste where a council cannot cope (s78 Municipal Systems Act)
weekendargus.co.zaTop municipal jobs, like the city manager and the head of finance, should be filled by an independent panel. Political parties should have no say in who gets them.
"Appoint competent municipal officials on merit rather than political connections and end cadre deployment."
The law should stop the municipality from raising rates and service charges (water, electricity, refuse) by more than inflation each year.
"Demands affordability assessments and limits on fixed electricity charges while supporting competitive pricing; no legal annual inflation cap is endorsed or rejected."
Note: 2026 manifesto remains the newest programme. Kevin Mileham's 15 September pricing statement demands affordability assessments and limits on fixed charges, correcting the prior inference that cost-reflective tariffs imply opposition to an inflation cap. Q19 cleared because supporting legal informal trading says nothing about owners' nationality. Q20 is electricity-only evidence, not a universal water-and-electricity policy. No new post-4-September replacement manifesto was found.
Parties and readers can challenge any score with a source. A person reviews every submission; accepted changes appear in the public changelog with the date and source.
Party positions were checked in September 2026 against manifestos, party statements and news reports. Spotted a mistake? Tell us. Changelog →
Answer the same statements and see your match with DA, and with every other party.
Start the quizStop illegal land invasions via reporting hotlines and a Bill criminalising incitement of land grabs
weekendargus.co.zaPoor households should get more free water and electricity, even if better-off households pay more to cover it.
"Ensure qualifying indigent households receive funded free basic services; the manifesto does not clearly endorse higher household tariffs to expand allocations."
The municipality should cut off water and electricity to anyone who does not pay their bill, including businesses and government departments.
"Disconnect customers who refuse to pay or connect illegally; enforce payment consistently while supporting qualifying indigent households."
Where the municipality is failing at electricity, water or rubbish removal, it should pay private companies to run those services.
"Allow private operators to manage critical municipal trading services, including electricity, where they improve delivery."
The municipality should cancel what poor households still owe on old water and electricity bills.
"DA-run uMngeni wrote off R10 million owed by poor and struggling households, demonstrating targeted rather than universal debt relief."
Every home should be put on prepaid electricity and water meters, including homes that now pay a monthly bill.
"Cape Town requires electricity-meter replacement towards prepaid and smart-prepaid systems; universal prepaid water conversion is not established."
The municipality should buy electricity from private producers and from homes with solar panels, instead of only from Eskom.
"Enable municipalities to buy and sell power and support households and businesses feeding surplus electricity into the grid."
When the municipality hands out contracts, it should stop giving black-owned businesses preference and choose only on price and ability to do the job.
"Replace race-based empowerment with a non-racial poverty-focused model, award contracts on merit and disclose procurement premiums."
Security guards, cleaners and other contract workers should become permanent municipal employees, even if that costs more than using private companies.
"Manifesto favours private management of core trading services; opposition to universally insourcing contract workers is inferred."
Before giving anyone a house, a trading permit or a business licence, the municipality should check that they are in the country legally.
"Helen Zille pledges zero tolerance for illegal immigration; linking that position to pre-service documentation checks remains an inference."
Only spaza shops and street traders with a licence should be allowed to trade. Those without one should be shut down.
"Supports small businesses and legal informal trading through reduced red tape; the reviewed wording does not settle blanket unlicensed-trader closure."
Only South African citizens and permanent residents should be allowed to own or run spaza shops and street stalls.
"Inference: manifesto backs 'enabling informal traders to operate legally' and cutting red tape for all small traders, with no nationality-based ownership restriction, leans against a citizens-only rule."
When people occupy land or buildings illegally, they should be removed straight away, even if they have nowhere else to go.
"Prevent land invasions through early reporting and rapid police response; blanket eviction of established occupants without alternative accommodation is not expressly supported."
The municipality should take over hijacked and abandoned buildings in the city centre and turn them into affordable housing.
"Zille pledges to reclaim hijacked buildings but does not expressly commit to converting them into affordable housing."
Metro police should get more officers and the power to investigate crimes, not only handle traffic and by-laws.
"Give capable municipal police investigative powers so arrests produce evidence and prosecutions."
The municipality should limit the hours taverns and bottle stores may sell alcohol, and close those next to schools and homes.
"Manifesto criticises weak liquor-licensing by-law enforcement; support for specified hours and school-distance restrictions is less explicit."
Renaming streets and public places after people from all of South Africa's history should carry on, even when it costs money and some residents object.
"Steenhuisen prioritises changing lives over changing names, opposing municipal name changes while services and jobs need attention."