Nqaba Bhanga elected as DA Eastern Cape Leader

Nqaba Bhanga has been elected as Eastern Cape Leader of the Democratic Alliance, at today’s Provincial Congress in East London.
While the election was a close one, a clear winner emerged by a majority of votes.
The vote and the vote count proceeded without a single query, objection or contest, and that is testament to the DA commitment to free and fair elections.
The new DA Eastern Cape Leadership is charged with continuing to create positive change in the Eastern Cape and working to continue growing the DA to provide opportunities to more and more people in this province.
The DA is indebted to the outgoing DA Eastern Cape Leadership, and especially Athol Trollip, as he now focuses on bringing increasing change to Nelson Mandela Bay.
The full complement of newly-elected DA Eastern Cape leadership is:
Provincial Leader: Nqaba Bhanga
2 Deputy Provincial Leaders: Bobby Stevenson and Terence Fritz
Provincial Chairperson: Andrew Whitfield
3 Deputy Provincial Chairpersons: Yusuf Cassim, Kobus Botha and Marshall Von Buchenroder
The DA congratulates the successful candidates.

Today we elect new leaders. Tomorrow we get to work.

Note to Editors: The following remarks were delivered by the Democratic Alliance Leader on day two of the Eastern Cape Provincial Congress at the East London ICC.
Fellow Democrats,
It gives me great pleasure to address you at this hugely significant Provincial Congress.
It is fitting that the first of our Provincial Congresses is held here in the Eastern Cape. This province – and specifically Nelson Mandela Bay Metro – set the stage for last year’s municipal elections.
From the hills of Pondoland to the beaches of the Bay, this province was always the ANC’s. It was their heartland and their stronghold.
But the Eastern Cape is equally important for the DA. It is not only our foot in the door in a province where nobody gave us a chance until very recently, it is also our biggest opportunity to show the country what we can do in government.
And if we wanted a challenge, we certainly got one.
Mayor Trollip and his team inherited a metro in critical condition. From housing lists, to the rollout of services, to corruption and unemployment, Nelson Mandela Bay was handed over in a terrible state.
It is now our job to fix it – to build a metro that can offer a better life for all the people who live there.
Our job is to waste no time in undoing the damage caused by decades of corrupt, uncaring government in Nelson Mandela Bay.
Our job is to turn the metro into a place of growth – where investors see opportunities, where tourists see a world-class destination and where the people of the city can find work.
If we get it right, we can spread our success from here, and in Kouga where we also won and are turning that town around too. We can spread it northwards, and westwards, to the entire Eastern Cape and beyond.
Eight months into the job, it feels like Athol Trollip and his team have been at it for years
The result is an incredible list of achievements in a very short space of time.
For years NMB was the only city without a Metro Police force. Well, now they have one! The DA-led government there has recruited 100 new officers to fight crime and drugs on the city streets.
We’ve already improved the lives of the poorest residents of the city. There is a long way to go, but already 30km of gravel roads have been tarred, and a hundred million rand has been budgeted for more road improvements.
We’ve launched a brand new anti-corruption hotline that has already led to 38 investigations.
Mayor Trollip’s administration has vowed to root out corruption in the city, and he has already frozen suspicious contracts, launched forensic investigations into others and opened Mayoral and Committee meetings to the public and the media.
Something I am very proud of: we have already found, processed and handed over more than 500 title deeds to poor residents, so that they can finally own their homes. That means so much to me! While the rest of the country is talking about empowering poor, mainly black South Africans – we are the only ones actually doing it. We are putting real assets in the hands of the people.
Why, I ask, has the government built houses for people but never allowed them to own those homes by giving them title? It is insulting. It says we cannot trust someone with their own home. We are putting that right.
Nationally, DA government have already handed over more than 75 000 title deeds, and we are just getting started. I am sure we will hit 100 000 soon.
Talk is cheap. Lots of people can shout and scream about “radical economic what what”, as President Zuma calls it. But if you want to see real empowerment happening in the lives of real South Africans, look at what the DA is doing. That is real empowerment!
But we have not stopped there. Hundreds of Bay residents have already graduated from basic skills development programmes.
We are trying to help them get into the job market. It is hard work, and there is much, much more to do. But we are committed to giving people the best chance possible of getting a job.
As we watch the ANC implode around their factional battles and their grab for power, we must remind ourselves of this vision of a South Africa united in its diversity. And we must then elect leaders who are committed to this vision.
It is the sole focus of the DA, and it is far too important to have to take a backseat to sideshows and distractions.
Our project cannot afford to be derailed. Too many people are counting on us to make it work.
And our cause is certainly not helped by public discussions and arguments on topics such as  colonialism.
We live in a time of heightened racial tension, the embers of which are regularly reignited by those who stand to benefit from mistrust and division. But we don’t have to buy into it, and we don’t have to fan the flames.
The DA is a party that unites people. Our core vision – that South Africa belongs to all who live in it – is shared by the vast majority of South Africans. Outside the bubble of social media, our people are not nearly as divided as some would have you believe.
The extreme views frequently expressed on Twitter are not shared by ordinary South Africans. And I certainly don’t share these views.
I don’t believe that there is a widespread campaign to shut down or delegitimise some citizens as less worthy than others.  Sure, some fringe racists believe that. But in the whole, South Africans reject hate and division and just want what is best for their families.
I think it is incredibly damaging – both to us as a party and to our society as a whole – to persist with this narrative.
Putting forward these arguments only serves to place us in opposite corners, and then expects us to defend our corners from those who are different from us. It turns us into opponents, and that is not how we must engage the issue of race in this country.
We must appeal to the best of our humanity, not regress into our racial corners.
We can’t stand united as a nation when we create a contest between black and white, a narrative of domination of one by another.
These aren’t the ideals we must pursue. While others turn South Africa into a bitter contest between majorities and minorities, we will build a party and a South Africa for all, black and white, rich and poor, urban and rural, business and labour.
Our discussion must always begin with: Let me hear from your world.
My job, as Leader of the Democratic Alliance, is to defend, protect and promote our core project of building a united and prosperous South Africa under a new government. And I intend to do my job without fear or favour.
I will not remain silent if anyone within our party steers us away from our task.
The choice is simple: we can either pretend we’re under attack from each other and defend our races, or we can focus on saving our country from the ANC. Only one of these choices will lead us forward.
As we gather here today to elect new leaders – in the province that gave us so many of our country’s struggle stalwarts – we’d do well to reflect on what that struggle was all about.
It was about building a country that belongs to all of us.
It was about building a Constitutional state, capable of protecting and caring for all.
It was about righting the wrongs of our painful history.
It was about building a reconciled society, diverse but united.
These were our goals that we agreed on in 1994, and they remain our goals today.
We must recognise when we’re losing focus of these goals – when we get it wrong and say things that hurt relationships and reopen old wounds.
Our opportunity is now. The crisis in the ANC has opened the door just wide enough for us.
This week Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said that the ANC had reached rock bottom.
Let me say this to the ANC today: You’re falling, but you aren’t at rock bottom yet.
You’ll know you’ve hit rock bottom in December, when you elect another Zuma who will change nothing. And you’ll know you’ve hit rock bottom when the voters kick you out of government in 2019.
Friends, Democrats,
Now is our opportunity to step up and lead.
Now is our opportunity to present our vision and our plan to voters.
Now is our chance to show that coalition politics can work in South Africa, and that parties can unite around key issues to govern for the people.
It gives us the opportunity to prove that we won’t tolerate corruption – whether this is from the ANC or from a less-than-ethical coalition partner.
If this means taking a hard line on an ally, then so be it. We have a vision to achieve, and we will not be derailed.
Fellow Democrats,
Everything we do, every decision we make in this time, must help us transition from opposition party to party of national government.
It must guide your work from now on. Whoever is elected today, let me make it clear what the DA expects from you: unity of purpose, hard work, devotion to the task of growing our party and winning the support of our fellow citizens.
Today we elect new leaders. Tomorrow we get to work.

BOKAMOSO | DA’s Country Recovery Plan for 2019: Rapid poverty alleviation is possible, and we must achieve it

The next decade must be Africa’s decade, given the urgent challenge of a rapidly growing unemployed youth population, among others. The World Economic Forum on Africa, which concludes today in Durban, brought regional and global leaders from government, business and civil society together to agree priorities that will help Africa achieve inclusive and sustained growth. It is extraordinary that two of the speakers addressing delegates, Presidents Jacob Zuma and Robert Mugabe, are corrupt leaders who have wrought destruction on their country’s economies, with a populist agenda that ultimately serves a narrow elite at the expense of the broader citizenry.
The answer to South Africa’s current predicament is not a Government of National Unity, just as it did not prove to be the answer to Zimbabwe’s problem when one was thrust on its population in 2007. Rather, the answer is to hold the ANC accountable for its failures by firing it and opening up the space for a new government. I am confident that South Africans will deliver this outcome in the next national election in 2019.
When a DA-led coalition comes into national government in 2019, our top priority will be to lift millions of South Africans out of poverty. And the best way to fight poverty rapidly and sustainably is also a no-brainer. We have to give South Africa’s poor a real stake in a growing economy. We have to open up job and ownership opportunities to the millions of South Africans who are right now trapped in poverty and unable to find a way out.
Only entrepreneurs – in both small and big businesses – can create the millions of jobs we need. The state’s role must be to give these entrepreneurs the best possible chance to succeed. The recipe for entrepreneurial success has five key ingredients: capital, infrastructure, productive labour, a coherent policy environment and a supportive government. The DA’s Country Recovery Plan for 2019 is to provide these five ingredients as quickly and efficiently as possible. Additionally, it is to broaden ownership of the country’s economic assets in such a way that attracts rather than deters investment.
We have to do everything in our power to encourage investment in the SA economy. This includes negotiating free trade agreements with large markets, starting with Nigeria; turning our foreign embassies into trade and investment centres; facilitating skilled immigration; promoting innovation through increased spending on research via a Jobs & Justice Fund; helping small businesses to access credit; and transferring title deeds to township residents to give people a real stake in the economy.
Our cities are key to creating new jobs and there is much that can be done to make them more attractive to investors, entrepreneurs and workers. Our cities will lead in the development of infrastructure. We will give them control of ports and economic development zones in their areas; resource them to provide better public transport; and give them a far greater role in housing development.
We will resolutely focus on growing a skilled workforce. We’re aiming for a million internships or apprenticeships nationwide, incentivised through a reformed BBBEE system that rewards businesses for establishing these. In the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2016-17, South Africa ranks stone last, 138th out of 138 countries, for the quality of our maths and science education. This has to change very quickly after 2019, with our focus on managing the performance of teachers and principals through training, support, monitoring and incentives.
As we are doing in the Western Cape and in the DA-led metros, we will specifically promote industries that create the most jobs, such as tourism, agro-processing, mining and manufacturing. Policy will be stable, rational and supportive. To boost tourism, for example, we will aim to make high-income countries visa-free or “visas on arrival”. In mining we will scrap investment-killing policies and promote inclusion and productivity through employee share ownership schemes. Our overarching question to business will be: how can we help you to create jobs and spread wealth?
Small businesses (SMMEs) provide 80% of total employment in China, while only around 60% in South Africa. We will look to boost this figure by making the labour market more flexible for small businesses, and by making it much easier to start a business and access capital and markets.
While the ANC’s “radical economic transformation” (or “radical economic whatwhat”, as President Zuma recently called it) is nothing more than empty, populist sloganeering, the DA’s Country Recovery Plan will rapidly transform the lives and futures of all South Africans. As you can read in their recent State of the City Addresses for Johannesburg and Tshwane respectively, Mayors Herman Mashaba and Solly Msimanga are already well on their way to changing lives in these cities. In 2019, that change will go national, and the DA will be leading it.

DA welcomes High Court ruling forcing Zuma to supply reasons for disastrous reshuffle

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is elated by the order of the North Gauteng High Court today that President Jacob Zuma must provide the reasons and record of decision to axe Pravin Gordhan and Mcebisi Jonas, on 31 March 2017.
This is a victory not only for the DA but for all South Africans who deserve to know on what basis the President made this disastrous decision.
Last week, the DA filed an urgent application to force President Zuma to supply his record of decision after he claimed that the DA and South Africa were not entitled to the reasons behind his disastrous decision.
Now that the High Court has confirmed that President Zuma must supply his record of decision within five days of today’s ruling, our earlier application to review the rationality of his decision can proceed.
The record of decision should also contain the now infamous ‘intelligence report’ which South Africa and the court can fully interrogate.
It is high time that those in power and especially the President, are held accountable for their actions and decisions based on self-interest and personal gain rather than the best interests of our country.
The fact is that President Zuma ought to have rationally foreseen the consequences of this reshuffle on our country and the 9 million unemployed people, who are likely to increase given the recent downgrades to junk status his decision precipitated.
The DA will continue to pursue all possible avenues to ensure this because South Africa deserves leaders that put the people first.

Public Protector agrees to DA’s request to probe Dlamini for misleading Parliament

The DA welcomes the Public Protector, Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane, granting the DA’s request that her office investigates Social Development Minister, Bathabile Dlamini, for wilfully misleading Parliament.
The DA believes that Dlamini breached the Executive Ethics Code when she delivered her 2016 budget vote speech in Parliament. In her speech, Dlamini stated that SASSA would be ready to institutionalise the distribution of social grants come 1st April 2017.
Yet, less than a year later, SASSA officials informed Parliament’s Social Development Committee that SASSA had failed to procure an alternative service provider.
Last month, Zane Dangor and Thokozani Magwaza filed damning affidavits with the Constitutional Court, in which both claim that Dlamini, not only deliberately tried to ensure that CPS continued with its invalid contract, but also knew since 2015 that SASSA would not be ready to distribute social grants.
The investigation by the PP will be an important step towards finally holding Dodging Dlamini to account for playing political games with the livelihoods of 17 million South Africans.
 

Water Committee to probe finances of Mokonyane’s Dept after DA request

Following a request submitted by the DA, the Chair of the Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation, Mr. Lulu Johnson, has agreed to investigate the finances of the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS). This investigation will include National Treasury and the Auditor General.
The DWS has close to R5 billion in outstanding debts.

  • In February, the Department confirmed that the Water Trading Entity (WTE) has an outstanding overdraft with the Reserve Bank as on 22 February 2017 which amounts to almost R3 billion.
  • In a presentation to the Portfolio Committee in March, Minister Nomvula Mokonyane confirmed her department’s financial difficulties, admitting that unpaid outstanding invoices amounted to almost R1,5 billion.
  • In response to a DA parliamentary question, the Department also confirmed that it owed various Water Boards close to R 500 million.

The DWS’ backlog in paying contractors and outstanding invoices means that projects currently in progress will not be completed. This could lead to legal action against the department, which will result in even further financial troubles for the DWS.
Water Boards are also struggling and can’t deliver services or pay contractors because the department owes them millions in outstanding funds.
This situation at the DWS is placing South Africa’s water infrastructure and the delivery of water services at serious risk.
It is apparent that ‘Mama Action’, Nomvula Mokonyane, has taken zero action to get the finances right. She is proving herself to be ‘Mama Inaction.’
The Minister has been too busy protecting the President and has completely lost control of her department.
There are still countless South Africans who struggle to access basic water services across the country, and the DA will not allow the Minister to continue to hold back the delivery of water to South Africans.

Eskom R1 billion nepotism report must be tabled before parliament

The DA will today write to Public Enterprises Minister, Lynne Brown, to request that the final report into Eskom CEO Matshela Koko’s alleged R1 billion nepotism scandal be tabled before Parliament. Eskom accounts to Parliament, and a scandal of such enormous proportions, directly implicating the CEO, deserves serious consideration by Parliament.
According to media reports last month, Eskom CEO Matshela Koko allegedly awarded tenders worth R1 billion to Impulse International, a company of which his step-daughter is a Director.
The report has now been finalised and must be tabled in Parliament.
The nepotism scandal alleged against Mr Koko, points to a type of nepotism of the highest order. Koko’s absurd explanation (that he was unaware that his stepdaughter was involved with Impulse International) brings into question his ability to lead Eskom, and his very integrity.
Minister Lynne Brown has for too long allowed the rot of corruption to fester at Eskom and other parastatals, and it is now up to Parliament to exercise oversight and hold those responsible for looting to account.
Under the ANC’s governance, state-owned enterprises have become a hotspot for looting. However, the DA will continue to fight against the endemic corruption in the public sector. Parastatals should work for the people, not as a tool of patronage.

NDZ “VIP” protection: Mbalula must urgently account to Parliament

Yesterday, Acting National Police Commissioner, Khomotso Phahlane, confirmed to Parliament that Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who holds no office in South Africa’s government, continues to receive protection from the Presidential Protection unit while she travels around the country to campaign within the ANC.
Now almost a month since the Dlamini-Zuma “VIP” scandal was exposed, Minister Fikile Mbalula has done nothing to stop it. This is an outrageous failure by the Minister, as VIP Presidential Protection costs hundreds of thousands, if not millions of rands, for a person who holds no public office in service of the people of South Africa – she is merely an ANC party official.
I will therefore write to the Chairperson of Parliament’s Police Committee, Francois Beukman, to request that he urgently summon Minister Mbalula, to appear before the Committee. I believe this is urgent as every day that passes racks up further expense for the public on an ANC official who does not deserve Presidential Protection.
Mbalula must explain to Parliament:
1) Why ANC Presidential hopeful, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, continues to receive presidential protection since this scandal was exposed almost a month ago;
2) Who authorised the continuation of Dlamini-Zuma’s presidential protection since the scandal was exposed;
3) On what basis Dlamini-Zuma deserves the highest protection the state can offer: the Presidential level of security.
The DA has already asked Parliamentary Questions of Minister Mbalula on how much, exactly, has been spent from public money on protecting Dlamini-Zuma while she remains only an ANC official. We have also asked why the Presidential Protection Unit continues to protect and transport Dlamini-Zuma around South Africa.
We are yet to receive answers from Mbalula on these critical Parliamentary Questions.
The fact is that prominent leaders in South Africa, of political parties and other organisations, and those who hold seats in government, are threatened on a daily basis, yet are not afforded any protection services. Their safety is ignored, while Dlamini-Zuma has been afforded the Rolls-Royce of safety at the Presidential level, for no apparent reason other than that she is an ANC insider.
One such unprotected leader is the SACP’s second deputy general secretary, Solly Mapaila, who had a gun pointed at him at a ceremony to commemorate Chris Hani recently, without the Presidential Protection Services being rolled out for him. This disparity leaves serious questions unanswered about why Dlamini-Zuma receives such political preference.
It is time for Mbalula to account for the most expensive resources being wasted on protecting an ANC elite official, while other prominent leaders and South Africans are left to fend for themselves in the face of clear and present danger.
Mbalula must answer to Parliament, and the DA will not rest until the public money wasted on protecting Dlamini-Zuma is fully accounted for.

Mashaba’s Joburg SOCA shows impressive progress made

The DA welcomes an impressive Johannesburg State of the City Address delivered today by Mayor Herman Mashaba, which highlights significant progress made by the DA-led Metro government in just nine months, in service of the people of Johannesburg.
Mayor Mashaba’s speech exemplifies the DA’s steadfast commitment to good governance, and to turning around the cities we govern, to deliver the best possible services, to create more jobs, and to cut out corruption once and for all.
Today is a day for the people of Johannesburg to celebrate these successes, which are just the start of getting the City to realise its full potential.
The DA welcomes the most significant of Mayor Mashaba’s announcements today, including:

  • After the City of Johannesburg, under the ANC, handed over zero title deeds in 2013/14, under Mayor Mashaba the City has handed over 2 800 titles deeds thus far, and a further 1 100 title deeds are ready to be handed over to beneficiaries. This exemplifies the DA difference.
  • A newly-created Internal Investigations Unit in the City has exposed almost R2 billion in fraud and corruption. While the ANC let corruption flourish, the Mashaba administration is decisively cutting it out.
  • More than 7000 Small, Medium and Micro- Sized Enterprises (SMME) were assisted by the SME Hubs over the past nine months, in order to reverse Johannesburg’s high unemployment rate. This evidences the DA’s all-out commitment to job creation.
  • The extension of operating hours at more clinics across the city, to be open until 10 pm on weeknights, allowing residents access to healthcare without losing a day’s pay at work.
  • The K9-Narcotics Unit has been a major success in combatting the drug-related crimes across Johannesburg, including a major drug bust in Glenvista estimated at R 9.5 million. And the Mayor’s recruitment of 1500 new officers for the JMPD is a welcome addition to keep residents in Johannesburg safe.
  • An independent skills audit was initiated in order to improve service delivery. This will ensure that city workers truly work for the people of the Metro.

Nine months ago, in the historic local government elections, the people of Johannesburg voted for change, and they voted the ANC out of government in order to see this kind of change begin to take root. The people’s trust is being rewarded through the type of change Mayor Mashaba spoke of today.
There is still much to do in Johannesburg, to reverse the rot of poor governance left by the ANC, but there can now be no doubt that under Mayor Mashaba the City of Johannesburg is on the path to meaningful growth and development, safety and wellness, jobs and opportunities for the residents we serve.
The new administration’s dedication and political will to improve the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable residents bode well for the future of Johannesburg.
The DA and our coalition partners in Johannesburg continue to govern from strength to strength. We are grateful for the excellent working relationships with our partner-parties, and we commit to working together for the betterment of all people in Johannesburg.

SADTU continues to block principal performance agreements

It has been revealed in Parliament that the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) continues to block the implementation of principal performance agreements across the country.
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) failed to indicate the proportion of principals who signed performance agreements in its Annual Performance Plan because according to the Auditor-General’s office the DBE is “currently negotiating with Unions on the matter.”
In other words, SADTU is preventing the implementation of principal performance agreements.
School leadership is often the decisive factor that determines whether a school succeeds or fails. It is, therefore, crucial that principals adhere to basic performance standards in order to improve the quality of education in public schools.
In 2012 the DBE promised that all principals would have performance contracts signed by the end of the year. That never materialised because of SADTU resistance. In 2014, the Minister again announced in Parliament that the plan would be implemented.
It’s been 5 Years since Motshekga promised performance contracts and DBE is still ‘negotiating’ with SADTU on what should be a basic aspect of employee contracts.
The impact of failing to implement principal performance contracts is serious. A reply to a parliamentary question received last year revealed that no principal has been dismissed for poor performance in the past five years, despite the many schools that continue to offer children a sub-standard education.
SADTU has been allowed to block accountability in our school system for too long. The DA has written to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, Ms. Nomalungelo Gina, to request that she summon Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga, to explain the delay in implementing the performance agreements.
Minister Motshekga needs to stop caving into SADTU and take control. The children of this country deserve Principals who perform excellently and, when they don’t, are held to account for poor performance.