SOLLY Msimanga is the Democratic Alliance (DA) candidate for Premier of Gauteng.
This was announced in Joburg on Wednesday, 13 September.
DA national chairman John Steenhuisen said they chose Msimanga because of his experience, enthusiasm and determination.
"It gives me great pleasure to announce that the DA’s premier candidate, who will lead our campaign to rescue this great province of Gauteng in the 2024 election, is Solly Msimanga!" said Steenhuisen.
Msimanga, who was born in Atteridgeville in Tshwane, was previously the city's mayor and is currently the leader of the DA in Gauteng.
"With the dedication and hard work of every DA public representative and activist, we will inaugurate the first-ever DA premier of Gauteng next year," Steenhuisen said.
He said for nearly 30 years, the outcome of elections, nationally and in Gauteng, were predictable.
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"In all previous elections, we knew that the ANC would get more than 50% and that the premier would come from the ANC, but those days are long gone," he said.
He said this time around the ruling party will not get 50% next year in Gauteng.
"Now, we know for certain that the ANC will lose Gauteng. This change is an enormous step forward for our politics. Gauteng is the economic and political heartland of South Africa. It is home to one-third of our country’s total economy. And one out of every four voters in South Africa live in Gauteng," he said.
Steenhuisen claimed that the latest research shows that DA, together with its partners in the Multi-Party Charter, were already polling as high as 45% in Gauteng.
"If we can grow the DA well beyond the 27%, we got here in 2019, then the Moonshot is guaranteed to succeed in this province," Steenhuisen said.
He attacked the "unholy alliance" between the ANC, EFF and PA for destroying Joburg.
Steenhuisen said two weeks ago, 77 people burnt to death in a hijacked building owned by the City of Joburg with 44 of those unidentifiable.
"Roads are literally exploding in the CBD," he said.
Steenhuisen urged party supporters to start behaving like a true government-in-waiting.
"It means that we need to campaign not only on the basis of the ANC’s failures, but on the basis of the DA’s vision to rescue Gauteng," said Steenhuisen.
