Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng Premier candidate Solly Msimanga notes that the only way a province can work and thrive, is if it has a good working relationship with municipalities.

Msimanga was speaking in Johannesburg on Wednesday, during the DA’s announcement of his candidacy for Gauteng Premier, where he said once elected he will also address the safety and security of residents as a matter of urgency.

Msimanga was elected leader of the DA in Gauteng last month, beating out National and Provincial MPs Ghaleb Cachalia and Khumo Ramulifho.

He noted that people cannot walk freely in Johannesburg because they fear for their safety.

“You have a Minister that tells women you are lucky if you were raped once and I don’t think that is something we can accept. You have people that are killing each other in terms of gangs that are operating in some of the areas such as Eldorado Park, and you have drug-infested townships to be dealing with,” he said.

He also noted that infrastructure was being vandalised daily while illegal mining continued.

He said the DA proposed policing units to deal with safety and security issues.

The DA will also prioritise infrastructure, to ensure that it is maintained and upgraded, in light of the recent disasters in the city centre.

“We are going to continue to have roads that explode, roads which are not safe in the CBD, where people have to drive zigzagging all over. You are going to also have a situation where electricity [outages] continue to be the norm and a situation where water outages become a norm. And we do not want that,” he said.

He highlighted that once the DA had prioritised the safety of residents and ensured that infrastructure was looked after, it would demonstrate its seriousness in improving the economy.

Meanwhile, DA leader John Steenhuisen explained that the “unholy alliance” between the African National Congress, Economic Freedom Fighters and Patriotic Alliance (PA) had destroyed Johannesburg, saying roads were literally exploding in the CBD.

“But Kenny Kunene, the utterly useless MMC for roads from the PA, spends his days gulping down expensive bottles of luxury champagne,” he said.

"Just two weeks ago, South Africans witnessed the horror of 77 human beings burning to death in a hijacked building owned by the City of Johannesburg."

Forty-four of the victims were burnt so badly that they are unidentifiable.

"I want to say to the millions that are not registered to vote, you staying at home and not voting is not a solution. We need you to register and vote DA for a better Gauteng. We need to get this province working again, because when Gauteng works, Africa works," he said.