By Johnathan Paoli
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has called for accountability, renewal, and grassroots mobilisation from members in the Northern Cape province, ahead of the local government elections next year.
Delivering an address to the party’s Northern Cape Congress on Saturday, Steenhuisen warned that the Northern Cape’s growing crises in safety, infrastructure, governance, and service delivery required urgent, people-centred solutions — and a government with the will and competence to act.
“Local government elections take centre stage in 2026, and it’s going to be keenly contested. But I firmly believe that elections are won one voter at a time. If we make voters feel seen, heard, understood, and communicated with, we can continue to change the course of our country for the better. Together, we can fix this,” he said.
Steenhuisen opened his speech by paying tribute to outgoing provincial leader Harold McGluwa, describing his decade-long leadership as “outstanding dedication in time, service and leadership”.
McGluwa, who served as Provincial Chairperson from 2012 to 2020 and as Provincial Leader from 2020 to 2025, is not standing for re-election, prompting Steenhuisen to call for a moment of recognition for his “extraordinary contribution”.
Framing the congress around the slogan One Province, Our People, Our Future, Steenhuisen said the DA’s mission was not only organisational renewal but a renewed social compact with the people of the Northern Cape.
“Together, we have one future in this province. The people here deserve safety, dignity, opportunity, and honest government,” he said.
Yet, he argued, these fundamentals have been eroded by years of mismanagement under ANC rule.
He said that for far too long, the people of the Northern Cape have carried a burden they did not create: irregular services, collapsing infrastructure, rising crime, and a careless ANC provincial government that cannot get the basics right.
Steenhuisen described safety as the single most urgent concern he hears from residents.
Citing the situation in Upington, where drug dens and criminal groups have taken over derelict properties, he said communities were living in fear while the government looked away.
“The people of Upington do not want excuses. They want action. This province does not belong to criminals. It belongs to the people who live here,” he said.
He reiterated the DA’s push for devolved policing powers to capable provinces and municipalities, saying this would allow local governments to tackle criminal takeovers, protect businesses and restore community stability.
Turning to service delivery failures, Steenhuisen said there could be “no dignity without water” and “no trust in government when sewerage floods the streets”.
He highlighted severe breakdowns in Emthanjeni and Gamagara, where residents endure chronic water outages, contamination, sewer spills and non-functional infrastructure.
He said the DA’s priority would be ensuring residents could rely on safe water, working sanitation systems and predictable service delivery; “not as a favour, but as a basic right”.
Steenhuisen also issued a warning about the state of the province’s transport infrastructure.
He revealed that the Northern Cape Department of Roads and Public Works had recorded 6,738 incidents of irregular expenditure amounting to R3.7 billion.
“That money should have fixed potholes, upgrade bridges and maintained surfaces. It should have kept our economic arteries open,” Steenhuisen said.
He said the DA’s vision was a province where roads support growth rather than suffocate it, where rail hubs like De Aar are revitalised, and where trade and tourism can expand without obstruction.
As part of the national government, he said, the DA now has “the power to demand accountability and ensure that every rand reaches the people it was meant to serve”.
Steenhuisen emphasised that the Northern Cape’s challenges were “man-made” and could be solved by choosing a competent government.
He pointed to DA-led municipalities such as Midvaal, uMngeni, Kouga and the Western Cape as examples of stable finances, clean audits and reliable service delivery.
As the focus shifts toward the 2026 elections, he urged activists to intensify mobilisation efforts.
“Every conversation you have, every door you knock on, every hour you dedicate to this movement, you are shaping the future,” the DA leader said.
The congress concluded with the election of a new provincial leadership team, with Isak Fritz elected unopposed as Provincial Leader and Lisa Schickerling chosen as Provincial Chairperson.
The party said the newly elected officials, including Deputy Chairpersons Henriette du Plessis, Rodney Kritzinger, and Belinda Moses, as well as Finance Chairperson Delmaine Christians, would be central to strengthening the party’s provincial structures.
The party expressed confidence that this refreshed leadership would guide the Northern Cape into a focused and competitive campaign ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections.
The DA currently holds seven seats in the Northern Cape legislature, which has 30 seats. The ANC holds 15 seats and governs in a coalition with the Freedom Front Plus which has a solitary seat. The Economic Freedom Fighters holds 4 seats while the Patriotic Alliance holds 3.
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