With the recent Constitutional Court ruling that requires the African National Congress (ANC) to hand over records relating to its cadre deployment committee within five days, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen said at the party’s election manifesto launch that the ANC has asked for more time, as the Monday deadline looms.

A sea of blue was set out in front of the Union Buildings on Saturday, as the opposition party launched its 2024 National Manifesto, which it promised would not amount to empty promises.

Addressing the crowd, Steenhuisen said the ANC, on Friday, asked the DA for more time to hand over the records.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to respond to [President Cyril] Ramaphosa and the ANC directly. No, you cannot get more time. Not to hand over these records, and not in government. You have wasted South Africa’s time for long enough. You will comply with the Constitutional Court’s order by handing over these records by 17h00 on Monday.

The DA warned that it would go back to court for a contempt of court order if the ANC did not comply.

He accused the ANC of being “desperate to hide Ramaphosa’s 'cadre secrets'”.

‘HELP IS ON THE WAY’ – DA’S RESCUE PLAN FOR SA

Steenhuisen set out the top priorities for the party if it came into power through the Multi-Party Coalition, and it included job creation, an end to water and energy cuts, halving the rate of violent crime, ending corruption that resulted from cadre deployment, taking 6-million people out of poverty, growing the number of grade four learners who could read for meaning and ensuring quality healthcare for everybody.

Steenhuisen said while it was easy for parties with no government track record to read out their plans for change, he promised that the DA’s “rescue plan for South Africa” was not “pie in the sky”.

“But South Africans are tired of empty promises. They are tired of hearing about bullet trains when the trains they used to take no longer run. They are tired of hearing about industrialisation plans when the factories where they used to work have closed due to loadshedding. They are tired of hearing about smart cities when they don’t even feel safe walking the streets where they live. What the DA offers you today, are not populist promises, but solemn pledges,”  he said to the crowd.

He laid the blame for South Africa’s challenges squarely on the ANC, led by Ramaphosa, and accused the ANC of betraying the nation and keeping the youth from succeeding.

He said the 2024 national elections, the date of which was yet to be announced, would not be about fulfilling the 1994 dream, but rather it would be about the survival of the South African dream.

He chastised Ramaphosa for only focusing on one “child of democracy”, Tintswalo, in his latest State of the Nation Address.

“No matter what your name is, no matter how old you are, no matter where you come from, I want to say to you: over the past 30 years, we have all grown up as democracy’s children. But we should probably not be too surprised that Ramaphosa excluded from his speech Aunty Fatima from Eldorado Park, farmer Johan from Citrusdal, and Keshav, the entrepreneur from Chatsworth. After all, this is the same man who deliberately excluded Dricus du Plessis from recognition as our country’s first-ever mixed martial arts world champion, purely because he refuses to keep quiet about ANC corruption. Dricus, the DA salutes your courage, inside and outside the octagon – just like we salute Bafana Bafana, the Springboks, our under-19 cricketers, and every other sportsperson who keeps the hope alive that we can be a winning nation,” Steenhuisen said.

He pointed to the success of the Western Cape and said where the DA governed eight out of ten people were employed and loadshedding was reduced. He referenced the recently launched programme that allowed Cape Town households that generated solar energy to apply to sell back electricity to the grid.

“This same policy sits at the heart of our manifesto’s solution to loadshedding for the whole country. Mark my words: the DA’s work in Cape Town is going to lead to an energy revolution, and it will all be thanks to the implementation of DA policies,” he promised.

Steenhuisen highlighted what many polls and analysts had claimed - that the ANC’s support would fall below 50% in the 2024 elections. He said the newly formed MK party, with which former President Jacob Zuma had since become affiliated, was “devouring” ANC votes.

The DA leader said blame for this could only be attributed to Ramaphosa, who he said had enabled and protected Zuma over decades.

“Ramaphosa even freed over 15 000 criminals just to keep Zuma out of prison. The very same Zuma is now helping to evict Ramaphosa from the Union Buildings behind me. The demise of the ANC has opened the door for the DA to achieve what was once considered unthinkable: to enter national government. In this election, for the first time ever, the DA has a clear path to victory,” he said.