Democratic Alliance (DA) federal chairperson Solly Msimanga on Tuesday said a functional South Africa depends on successful local government, describing municipalities as the "engines of governance" that require “experienced, vetted captains to succeed”.

Speaking at the announcement of the party's Western Cape mayoral candidates, Msimanga warned that the upcoming local government elections were essential to preventing provincial and national decline.

Msimanga emphasised a “local upward strategy”, arguing that the "failure of municipal engines" inevitably leads to the collapse of provinces and the country at large.

“Therefore, it is important that when we are lubricating and getting these engines to run, we do that with an understanding that when they fail, then provinces fail. When provinces fail, South Africa fails. And when South Africa fails, they are saying Africa fails.

"We need to then make sure that we are able to then get it right from the local level upward. And this is why today is so important, because we understand that we now need captains of these engines at a local level to be able to then drive the kind of change that we would want to then see happening,” he said.

Msimanga assured that the DA was committed to a strict vetting process for its candidates, who would be subjected to rigorous assessment by the public and within the party structures.

"… and this is why the Democratic Alliance is the only political party that will, a year or months in advance, be able to then say, this is what we're putting forward. We are putting our people forward. You can test, you can go and assess who they are, what they are all about,” he said.

In February, the party unveiled its first tranche of mayoral candidates for key areas, including the Cape Winelands District, Beaufort West, and Knysna, signalling its campaign to bring "hope and delivery" to more communities.

Eleven mayoral candidates were announced on Tuesday: Mario Wessels for Bergriver; Clinton Lerm for Overstrand; Raymond Ross for Cape Agulhas; Richard van Huyssteen for Matzikama; Harold Cleophas for Swartland; Jeremy Fasser for Stellenbosch; Jessica Kamkam for Bitou; Marais Kruger for Garden Route; Trevor Abrahams for Witzenberg; Brown Johnson for George and Stephen Korabie for Drankenstein.

DA Western Cape provincial leader Tertius Simmers highlighted that local government is the most intimate sphere of politics, where policy directly translates into personal experiences.

He pointed out that in the Western Cape, this was where DA-led leadership is focusing its efforts ahead of the local government elections, positioning itself as the party that ensures service delivery is maintained.

“Our candidates are not being chosen just to make speeches. They are being chosen to fix what still needs to be fixed, to maintain what needs to be maintained but we are also preparing, yes, the Western Cape, for the future,” he stated.