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The DA can reveal that in the 2014/15 financial year, the people of the ANC-run Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay and Johannesburg cumulatively lost R2 215.14 per capita to unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure. In direct contrast, the people of the DA-run City of Cape Town lost just 25 cents.

The worst offender was Nelson Mandela Bay, where on average each resident lost R1 429.31 to this expenditure. The people of Tshwane and Johannesburg lost R575.91 and R209.91 respectively.

Moreover, ANC-run municipalities across South Africa have lost a total of R25.8 billion in unauthorised, irregular and fruitless/wasteful expenditure. That amounts to each resident in these municipalities losing R537.80 on average.

The truth is that poor ANC governance and corruption steals money from the people, and especially the poor. It means less money is spent on delivering basic services, and job-creating projects. It is essentially the theft of opportunities in a country where 8.9 million people are unemployed.

The ANC has changed. It is no longer the party of Nelson Mandela. It is primarily interested in self-enrichment and putting Jacob Zuma and his friends first. This comes at the expense of the poor and vulnerable.

South Africans have an opportunity to reject this anti-poor approach to government. They can do this by voting DA for CHANGE on 3 August 2016. The DA has a clear track record, where we govern, of working hard to deliver to the poor. We also have a clear plan to create jobs, deliver better services and stop corruption if voters give us a chance to govern just for 5 years.

This is the change that our municipalities and country need to move forward again.

Issued by DA