The Democratic Alliance (DA) is of the view that the African National Congress’s (ANC's) election manifesto is proof that the governing party is not serious about tackling corruption.

The manifesto promises to “put an end to state capture, restore the integrity of public institutions and tackle corruption”.

“While these promises are all good and well, it is evident that the ANC chooses to gloss over its role in corruption which has had a devastating effect on the provision of services to our people,” DA spokesperson on corruption, Phumzile Van Damme said in a statement on Sunday.

The ANC manifesto which was launched on Saturday at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban proves that unlike the DA, the ruling party has no plan on how it is going to tackle corruption, according to Van Damme.

“The ANC is incapable of self-correcting and promoting integrity in government, because they are the very people who erode good governance and destroy institutions,” she said.

The DA further promises that corruption under a government led by the opposition party will lead to a sentence of 15 years imprisonment.

The opposition party highlights its plan to fight corruption: Establishing an independent unit dedicated to identifying, fighting and prosecuting corruption; Ensuring the payment of all public money is transparent; Bringing in direct elections for all political office holders so that the South African people can hold their president, premiers and mayors directly accountable; Implementing regular lifestyle audits for all politicians and government officials; Protecting and encouraging ‘whistleblowers’ who identify and report on corrupt activities.

“The people of South Africa deserve a government which provides services and keeps them safe, not one which robs them of their futures,” Van Damme concluded.

‘ANC Manifesto full of broken promises

DA spokesperson on immigration Jacques Julius says that the manifesto was full of broken promises and offered no solutions to South Africa’s borders and immigration.

“I have spent the past six months visiting border posts across the country, engaging with officials and seeing for myself some of the challenges they face daily.

“During these inspections, the DA uncovered a number of issues including: illegal cross border trading; alleged social grant fraud; poor military patrolling and hijacking syndicates,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

This come after President Cyril Ramaphosa in his address told voters that the governing party would work with other countries to ensure that “there are incentives created for immigrants to stay in the borders of their own country".

The opposition party also notes that the ANC manifesto was silent on the state of the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and the lack of support from the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

“The DHA has no systems to accurately determine the number of undocumented immigrants in the country. When I spoke to SANDF officials off the record, they complained about being under-resourced and it emerged that there may be law enforcement individuals who are working with the syndicates, making it difficult to police these crimes,” he claimed.

The DA plan to “fix borders” through the following: Arresting, detaining and deporting those who repeatedly enter our country illegally; Ensuring undocumented immigrants are regularised (to become citizens) or assisted in leaving the country if they do not meet the criteria for remaining in the country; Strengthening our border posts. Through proper control and order, we can create corruption-free and effective border security and control; Eradicating the corruption and inefficiency endemic to Home Affairs; Together with the push to secure our borders and regularise migrants, the DA says it is committed to assisting, supporting and caring for legitimate refugees and asylum seekers, as well as attracting foreign nationals with scarce skills to South Africa to help us grow our economy and create jobs.

“The ANC is incapable of ensuring law and order in the country. A change in leadership is needed and only the DA has a plan to control immigration and secure our borders,” he concluded.