Edwin Macrae Bath - MP

IMPENDLE IS READY FOR CHANGE 💙🗳️

This afternoon, together with Cllr Sithole, we conducted voter registration training with our incredible local Democratic Alliance volunteers, activists and members in the beautiful rural village of Impendle.

I have a deep love for our rural communities and immense respect for those working tirelessly to restore hope and rescue failed municipalities like Impendle.

🗳️ Make sure you are correctly registered to vote by checking your details today at check.da.org.za.

Today, together with our provincial leader Sithembiso Ngema, Cllr Hazel Lake and our DA district and local councillors, I helped organise the handover of a petition signed by more than 1,500 residents to the uMgungundlovu District Municipality over the ongoing water crisis. 💧✊

Too many municipalities are dealing with dry taps, unreliable supply, and failing infrastructure. Water is a basic right, but it’s also essential for growing our economy, creating jobs, supporting businesses and farmers, and moving South Africa forward 🇿🇦

This petition is about holding the District Municipality to account and demanding urgent action to fix and better manage our water infrastructure.

Thank you to every resident who signed and made their voice heard. Real change starts when communities stand together and demand better. 🇿🇦💙

This Sunday I had the opportunity to address a street meeting in rural Ward 8 of uMngeni Municipality.

One of the biggest concerns raised by residents was unemployment, a challenge that continues to affect many families across our communities.

I stressed that creating jobs starts with growing the economy. Government cannot be the sole creator of employment. We need an environment where businesses can invest, expand, and create opportunities for local people.

That is why it is so important to support a party that has demonstrated it can govern well, attract investment, grow local economies, and create jobs.

On 4 November 2026, voters will have an opportunity to choose a future of economic growth, opportunity, and job creation. Together, we can keep making progress and build an economy that works for everyone.

GARLINGTON ESTATE REGISTRATIONS 🗳️

Thank you to the 81 Garlington residents who came though on Friday evening to update their voter registration details with the IEC 👏🏻👏🏻

Your vote will shape the future of your municipality 🚀🗳️

Remember you can check and register yourself - check.da.org.za

One of the most significant yet often overlooked opportunities in South Africa’s public finances lies in the more strategic management of state-owned property.

The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure’s decision to dispose of 801 underutilised state properties is an important step towards unlocking the value of public assets that currently impose costs on the fiscus without delivering meaningful public benefit.

Unused buildings and vacant land continue to attract property rates, security, and maintenance costs, even when they serve no operational purpose. Disposing of non-core assets reduces these recurrent expenses while generating capital that can be reinvested into addressing the Department’s estimated R28 billion maintenance backlog across police stations, courts, and other critical facilities.

This is a practical example of “sweating the assets”, ensuring that every property either serves a strategic public purpose or is released for more productive use by other spheres of government, non-profit organisations, or the private sector.

As someone with a background in property and public asset management, I strongly support this reform agenda being advanced by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. It reflects a more disciplined and commercially informed approach to public asset management.

If implemented efficiently, this programme can reduce waste, strengthen public finances, improve infrastructure, and help unlock economic growth and job creation.

Today I am attending my first KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Congress of the Democratic Alliance.

It is a significant moment for our party as we gather to hear from our leadership and, most importantly, elect a new provincial leadership team that will guide the DA in KwaZulu-Natal over the next three years.

I am proud to be here with the Mooi-uMngeni Constituency, which is represented in full force and ready to play its part in shaping the future of our party and our province.

KwaZulu-Natal has enormous potential, and I am excited to be part of a movement committed to building a province that works for all its people.

Dean is someone I greatly look up to because of his ability to get things done, something he continues to demonstrate in the DA and in government today.

As a once “outsider”, Dean has taken the time and effort to take me under his wing and supported my transition from government administration into politics and back home to KwaZulu-Natal (the province I love).

I believe he is the right person to lead the DA forward in KZN as Chairperson of the province, grow our support, govern in more municipalities after 2026, and increase our representation in the Legislature and National Assembly in 2029.

Proud to endorse Dean Macpherson for Provincial Chairperson of KwaZulu-Natal.