The Democratic Alliance (DA) is positioning itself to challenge the African National Congress (ANC) for control of Johannesburg, the country’s financial hub, in the November 4 local elections. DA leader and Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis is campaigning on his party’s superior municipal track record, including clean audits and a strong credit rating, and contrasting it with service failures elsewhere. He has also pledged to end “cadre deployment,” the ANC practice of appointing party loyalists to public institutions, and to redirect utility revenue toward fixing crumbling water and electricity infrastructure. The DA’s messaging seems to be working: polling shows ANC support in Johannesburg has fallen to 18%, down from 30% earlier this year, with the DA now leading at 42%.