CAPE TOWN, Western Cape — As the race for South Africa’s metropolitan cities intensifies ahead of the upcoming local government elections, ActionSA has officially announced Member of Parliament Dereleen James as its Cape Town mayoral candidate. Stepping into a highly competitive political landscape, James outlined her vision to challenge the status quo and bring grassroots-focused governance to the Mother City.
The announcement came with a notable scheduling clash. James revealed that the Democratic Alliance (DA) planned their own mayoral candidate launch on the exact same day and time, just two minutes away from ActionSA’s event. Rather than viewing it as a setback, James described the move as a “compliment” and “petty,” arguing it proves the DA sees ActionSA as a significant threat rather than an insignificant party.
Addressing the DA’s heavy media presence and live-streamed events, James emphasized that her campaign is not limited to a single day of announcements. She highlighted her daily presence on the ground in communities like the Cape Flats, stating she is there when it matters most—amidst gang violence and community crises. She criticized the DA’s “territorial behavior,” linking it to the gangsterism plaguing the area, and asserted that ActionSA is here to take up space and drive meaningful change.
Tackling criticisms that ActionSA is splitting the vote or acting as a proxy for the ANC, James firmly rejected these claims. She maintained that ActionSA has carved out its own unique voice and footprint across all communities, driven by the genuine interests of residents who feel marginalized after 20 years of DA rule.
A central theme of James’s campaign is the stark inequality in the city. While DA spokesperson Geordin Hill-Lewis has touted Cape Town as a beacon of economic opportunity, citing a R40 billion infrastructure pipeline with R9 billion annually allocated to poor townships, James argues these promises remain unseen on the ground. She challenged Hill-Lewis to look beyond the affluent inner city and visit areas like Manenberg, Mitchell’s Plain, Delft, and Philippi, as well as local town centres that she claims are neglected and lack basic maintenance. She also pointed to the recent arrest of 79 undocumented foreign nationals near the Department of Education buildings as evidence of systemic neglect.
ActionSA’s platform rests on three primary pillars: addressing safety to attract economic investment, tackling the affordability crisis, and ensuring equitable service delivery. James painted a grim picture of the current reality, citing grandmothers forced to choose between buying electricity and food, the city’s crackdown on informal spaza shops, and exorbitant fines of up to R800,000 imposed on families selling basic goods like tea bags. She also highlighted failures in basic services, noting that the Shot Spotter system is ineffective, the elderly are forced to queue at clinics from 4:00 AM, and areas like Elsies River are left covered in dirt.
On the issue of crime, which the DA attributes largely to national policing incompetence while pushing for the devolution of police powers and expanding the LEAP framework, James argued that the city cannot afford to wait. She called for a holistic, “whole-of-government” approach that includes social and economic wins. This includes getting children off the streets and back into classrooms to prevent gang recruitment, and properly funding the local drug action committee mandated by the National Drug Master Plan. She also dismissed the DA’s offer of R20,000 cash rewards for gang-related tip-offs as insufficient without walking the streets and addressing the root causes.
While acknowledging the DA’s clean audits and sound governance, James stressed that these metrics do not reflect the lived reality of the city’s most vulnerable. She pointed to Cape Town’s high rates of abandoned children, the neglect of District Six, and the marginalization of residents who do not fit the city’s preferred profile.
Addressing critics who question her understanding of the Western Cape’s unique political dynamics based on her roots as a grassroots activist, James concluded that the country is in desperate need of empathy and practical solutions rather than political maneuvering. Emphasizing that “people don’t eat politics,” she reaffirmed her commitment to restoring safety, dignity, and basic needs to keep families together, while also highlighting the urgent need to improve the state of schools across the province.
