Fellow South Africans

It is wonderful to be here with you in the beautiful North West province

This is a province that has tremendous opportunity. From its natural resources, to the spirited determination of its people, this is a province that can move forward again.

Friends, the biggest obstacle to this dream remains the crisis of unemployment. It is a crisis for you, your families, and loved ones. It is a crisis for the youth who are denied opportunities. It is a crisis for those who are losing hope, stuck in a cycle of poverty.

Sadly, it is not a crisis for the ANC. For Jacob Zuma, and his ‘Premier League’ chums in this province, the main priority is corruption – stealing from the poor, and those most in need. Their priority is keeping Jacob Zuma out of court, and helping him find money to pay back Nkandla. Their priority is to make sure that it is ANC councillors’ friends that get access to opportunities like housing and EPWP jobs. 

With more than 37% of the people here without a job, this simply cannot be allowed to continue. The people here, like in other places I have visited, need change. Change that will create the jobs and honest government needed to move this province and the country forward again.

Friends,

I am here at the Mahikeng Taxi rank, not only to speak to residents about their concerns, but also to small business owners about the challenges they face.

The DA is the only party in South Africa that is serious about growing the informal economy – recognising its value in our economy.

Unlike the ANC, who have remained silent on their offer for the informal economy, we are clear on our offer: Where we govern, we promise to commit to developing an informal trading policy that makes it easier for residents to obtain licensing and public space tenure to trade and improve the ease of doing business. This is what we can bring to you the people of Mahikeng.

The ANC does not care about creating jobs and uplifting the poor. Since Zuma came into power, the ANC has done nothing to repeal old Apartheid-era policies, structure plans, by-laws and other procedures which continue to stifle freedom of trade, posing barriers to economic development and job-creating growth. Instead, we have only seen a rise in corruption, tenderpreneurship and the loss of 2.2 million jobs.

The DA cares about creating jobs and growing South Africa’s economy, both formal as well as informal. The DA-run City of Cape Town has instituted a number of key policies to support informal traders by the provision of infrastructure and services, without over-regulating the industry. Unlike in the ANC-led Mahikeng and North West, the City of Cape Town is not intent on keeping its own people poor.

The truth is the people of our beautiful country cannot sit back and wait for the ANC to change so that the situation will improve. The people of the North West, as well as South Africa as a whole have to punish the ANC at the polls by not voting for them.

You do not need another five years of failure, corruption and broken promises.

The ANC is comfortable with the status quo of rampant corruption, high unemployment and deteriorating service delivery. They put Jacob Zuma’s friends first and you, the people, last at every turn.

Vote DA for change that will move South Africa forward again. If you lend us your vote for 5 years, we will be ruthless in ending this buddy-politics and ensure an honest government. Everyone will have a fair chance under a DA government, and there will be a zero-tolerance approach to corruption.

On August 3rd, South Africans will have an opportunity to vote for change, and to vote for a party that cares about creating jobs, delivering services, and putting an end to corruption.