Political parties across the country commemorated Nelson Mandela Day on Saturday by undertaking a range of community service initiatives, from distributing winter care packages and handing over newly built homes to cleaning neighbourhoods, supporting food relief efforts, and engaging residents on local development.

The activities formed part of the annual Mandela Day observance, which encourages South Africans to dedicate at least 67 minutes of service in honour of the country’s first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela, whose legacy remains closely associated with community upliftment, dignity, and public service.

Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader Geordin Hill-Lewis spent the day in Ennerdale, south of Johannesburg, where he joined party members in distributing winter care packs to elderly residents while also assisting unregistered community members to register to vote.

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Hill-Lewis said the initiative reflected Mandela’s legacy of practical service and civic participation.

“We distributed winter care packs to elderly residents and we helped unregistered residents to register to vote. These are modest acts, but they speak to two important principles: every person deserves to be treated with dignity, and every citizen has the power to help determine the future of their community,” Hill-Lewis said.

The DA leader said Mandela Day should encourage South Africans to take responsibility for improving their communities.

“Building a better South Africa begins when each of us asks what we can do to serve our neighbours, strengthen our communities and leave our country better than we found it,” he said.

Hill-Lewis said communities deserved responsive government and improved municipal services.

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“The people of Ennerdale and communities across South Africa deserve reliable basic services, safer streets, clean public spaces and a local government that respects them and responds when they need help,” the DA leader said.

ActionSA President Herman Mashaba marked Mandela Day in Cosmo City alongside Gauteng Provincial Chairperson Funzi Ngobeni, where the party continued its “A Re Sebetseng”, or Let’s Work, community campaign.

The initiative focused on mobilising residents to participate in cleaning neighbourhoods and restoring public spaces, with ActionSA saying community participation remained essential to rebuilding Johannesburg.

The party said that should Mashaba return as mayor of Johannesburg, communities would once again be mobilised, as they were during his first term in office, to help keep streets clean and restore pride in the city.

In Tshwane, Executive Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya spent Mandela Day with elderly residents in Atteridgeville as part of the city’s “67 Acts of Dignity” initiative.

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“I believe that in the end that it is kindness and accommodation that are the catalysts for real change,” Moya said.

The programme focused on supporting senior citizens while promoting dignity and community care.

The uMkhonto weSizwe Party used Mandela Day to hand over five newly built homes to families across the uThukela District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal.

MKP leader and former president Jacob Zuma, Secretary-General Sibonelo Nomvalo, Deputy National Chairperson Mokotjo Sebiloane, Provincial Task Team Coordinator Sibonelo Maphumulo, Youth League leadership and other party officials attended the handover programme held at the Ladysmith Indoor Sports Complex.

Houses were handed over across the regions three sub-regions.

According to the party, the project demonstrated its commitment to “restoring dignity, uplifting communities, and delivering meaningful change where it matters most.”

The MKP described the initiative as one aimed at changing lives through tangible community development, saying: “Five Homes. Five Families. Five Lives Changed.”

GOOD Party leader Patricia De Lille spent Mandela Day engaging with residents of the Burundi Informal Settlement in eMfuleni, where she listened to community concerns and discussed local development challenges.

The party said meaningful change required residents to be actively involved in shaping the future of their communities.

“Real solutions begin when people are heard and included in shaping the future of their communities,” the party said.

In Cape Town, GOOD’s mayoral candidate Brett Herron, accompanied by councillors Wesley Neumann and Lulama Benge, visited football clubs and sports facilities across Edgemead, Bothasig, Bonteheuwel, Athlone, Heideveld and Browns Farm.

The party used the occasion to highlight inequalities in sports infrastructure across the city.

“Football is more than a game, it is a pathway to youth development, social cohesion and crime prevention,” Herron said.

The party noted that approximately 135,000 registered football players depended on community sports facilities, arguing that many grounds remained neglected while investment continued elsewhere.

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“Every young person deserves a safe place to play, train and grow, no matter their postcode,” the party said.

Ahead of Mandela Day, Herron and GOOD members also partnered with FoodForward SA to pack food parcels as part of their 67 minutes of community service, saying the initiative honoured Mandela’s enduring legacy of compassion, dignity and service.

Across the political spectrum, parties used the annual commemoration not only to honour Mandela’s memory but also to promote their own approaches to community development, service delivery and civic participation through projects aimed at addressing local needs.

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The GOOD party has accused Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis of using the language of redistribution to defend a tariff model it says will still burden working- and lower-middle-class homeowners.

A full bench of the Western Cape High Court last month found that the city’s fixed charges for city-wide cleaning, water and sanitation in its 2025/26 budget were unlawful and invalid.

GOOD said Hill-Lewis had warned that, without the city’s property-value-linked tariff structure, poorer residents could face higher charges.

The mayor has said that using property values to structure fixed charges was intended to protect lower- and middle-income households.

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“If Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis is serious about protecting lower-income households from higher tariffs, he must introduce a progressive tariff system that spares the struggling working and lower-middle classes and targets those who can really afford to pay,” the party said.

“Like other conservative politicians across the world, he is good at using progressive language, such as the language of redistribution, while at the same time defending the unequal status quo.”

The party said Cape Town remained one of the world’s most unequal cities, with some of South Africa’s highest property values and rental costs, while facing a housing backlog of more than 800,000.

GOOD also said the city’s short-term rental market had placed further pressure on residents struggling to buy or rent homes.

“It is estimated that 70% of apartments in the inner city of Cape Town are in the short-term rental pool,” the party said.

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The City’s draft 2026/27 tariff policy proposed a 100% rebate on the city-wide cleaning charge for formal residential properties valued from R1 to R620,000, with reduced rebates for higher property-value bands.

“The city’s proposed redistributive tariff exempted properties valued at less than R620 000 – the average price of a freestanding home in Mitchell’s Plain these days is R750 000 to R1.2 million,” GOOD said.

It said this meant many homeowners would still have been liable for fixed charges they could not afford.

The party said rising property values meant many Capetonians lived in homes they would not be able to buy at current prices and did not have spare cash to contribute to the mayor’s “misdirected and unlawful” redistribution model.

“Cape Town could learn from New York, where the Mayor is a former Capetonian,” the party said.

“New York property is the most expensive in the US and, like Cape Town, is a tourist mecca with a massive housing shortage.”

GOOD said New York had placed strict controls on short-term rentals to preserve housing for residents, while also targeting owners of high-value homes through additional taxation.

The party said that Hill-Lewis should not spread the tariff burden to households unable to pay more, but should instead target Cape Town’s wealthiest property owners, who fund his political party, the Democratic Alliance.

It said the city should also credit ratepayers for amounts already paid under tariffs declared unlawful, although the court order set the charges aside from 30 June and did not expressly order refunds or credits.

“At the same time, to show good faith the City must credit ratepayers’ bills with the tariffs they paid that have been deemed unlawful,” the party said.

GOOD said the City had until Friday to decide whether to appeal the full-bench judgment.

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The Democratic Alliance (DA) has laid out an ambitious vision to govern Gauteng’s key metros, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane, positioning service delivery, infrastructure investment and coalition reform at the centre of its campaign ahead of the upcoming local government elections.

Speaking at the party’s federal congress over the weekend — where Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis was elected new party leader — senior leaders framed the elections as a decisive moment for the country’s urban future, arguing that the DA’s governance model offers a clear alternative to what they described as failing ANC-led municipalities.

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City of Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis was elected the new Federal Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) at the party’s congress in Johannesburg on Sunday, marking a generational shift.

Hill-Lewis secured victory in a closely watched contest against Sedibeng leader Sibusiso Dyonase, as delegates concluded voting on the second day of the congress.

In his first remarks after being elected, Hill-Lewis struck a conciliatory tone, praising his opponent and signalling unity within the party.

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The DA wrapped up its Federal Congress on Sunday with the adoption of a series of policy resolutions ranging from child protection and education reform to internal party communications, before building on a set of governance and social policy commitments passed the previous day.

Delegates on Sunday endorsed a resolution promoting inclusive and non-religious terminology in party communications, signalling a shift toward language the party says reflects South Africa’s constitutional diversity.

Proposed by Refiloe Nt’sekhe who said the move is aimed at ensuring that official messaging remains accessible and respectful across religious and cultural lines.

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Anyone who opposes Geordin Hill-Lewis at the Democratic Alliance’s leadership congress in April will face “consequences”, a DA insider has claimed, as the party allegedly moves towards electing the Cape Town mayor unopposed as its federal leader.

Current federal leader John Steenhuisen announced last week that he will not seek re-election, saying he needed to guide the country through the Foot-and-Mouth disease crisis in his capacity as minister of agriculture, opening the way for “blue-eyed boy” Hill-Lewis to take the reins.

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The source told Inside Politics that the Government of National Unity “star performer” and Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube – previously the DA chief whip in parliament — has been “stuck between a rock and a hard place” because she harbours ambitions for the leadership role, but does not want to upset the hierarchy by contesting.

Gwarube has effectively removed herself from the race after telling Inside Politics that she is not seeking the position and remains focused on her responsibilities as minister.

“She has, however, indicated her willingness to consider a leadership role within the broader federal leadership structure and will communicate any such intentions through the party’s official nomination processes once they open,” a second source said.

The insider said DA deputy federal chairperson Solly Malatsi – who is also the minister of communications and digital technology — would not be contesting.

With Gwarube and Malatsi out of the picture, said the source, the party had been left with no senior contender and “no prospect of being led by [another] black leader anytime soon”.

While some reports have suggested DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimang and Hill-Lewis have emerged as frontrunners, Msimang has publicly downplayed any bid for the top job.

“Solly is not going to run for the leader of the party, that I can tell you without a shadow of doubt. I am being lobbied by other provinces and my own province for one of the senior positions which I am considering,” he told EWN at the weekend.

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The insider said Msimang’s stance has effectively cleared the path for Hill-Lewis, and helps explain why DA Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille has been increasingly open in praising him.

Zille, the insider claimed, commands a huge following and influence within the party “to an extent that anyone who crosses her path is as good as gone”.

Reports have linked Steenhuisen’s decision to step aside to a rift between the two — an allegation both have denied.

Zille has said the meteoric rise of Hill-Lewis — who was her chief of staff when she was Cape Town premier — in the DA leadership had nothing to do with her, telling News24 it instead had to do with his “exceptional capacity, his integrity, and his work ethic”.

But those with intimate knowledge of the party’s internal operations say Hill-Lewis was initially earmarked for a provincial position in the upcoming local government elections, before Steenhuisen’s withdrawal changed the equation.

“He is going to be elected unopposed, there is no doubt about that. Everybody in the DA knows he is the favourite. He is the blue-eyed boy at the moment. There is just no-one else,” said the insider.

“He is favoured by Helen Zille and once you have her in your corner in the DA you are guaranteed of a win.”

That view was echoed by political analyst Professor Bheki Mngomezulu, who was quoted by Independent Online as saying the DA’s leadership outcomes are ultimately shaped by Zille’s influence.

Mngomezulu told the publication that Hill-Lewis’s victory was a foregone conclusion given Zille’s publicly-stated sentiments.

“It’s a done deal. Helen Zille decides who is and who is out. If anyone doubts that, they should look at what happened to Mmusi Maimane. I said back then that he served at the behest of Zille and when there was a fallout he was gone,” he told the publication.

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A day after Steenhuisen’s announcement, Hill-Lewis posted on social media that many party members had approached him urging him to stand for the top job, but noted that the DAs internal rules only allow public campaigning once nominations open.

“That will happen later this month, which is when I will announce my intentions. Whatever is decided, I will remain committed to stand for a second term as the Mayor of Cape Town. It is the DA’s biggest government and our strongest platform as we head into the local elections.

“If I do stand for election as DA Leader, I would welcome a robust and principled process focused on competing ideas for the future of our party and our country. We have many excellent leaders, and an open exchange of ideas can only strengthen us,” he wrote.

He also thanked those who, he said, had reached out to him, saying it was an honour to be considered — and that whatever the outcome, “our focus must remain on serving every South African and building a country of hope”.

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