Month: October 2021

The following speech was delivered by the Leader of the Democratic Alliance, John Steenhuisen, in Helenvale, Port Elizabeth today.

Pictures are attached here, here, here and here.

My fellow Democrats,

Today we stand before the people of Nelson Mandela Bay with a plan in our hand to turn NMB into the metro it can be.

A plan that will not only give the residents of NMB the dignity that comes with dependable basic services, decent housing and reliable public transport, but will also fling open the doors of this metro to investors, businesses and entrepreneurs, creating jobs for thousands more people.

This plan is our DA Manifesto for Local Government, and it is the blueprint we will use to get cities and towns across South Africa working again.

But there’s one thing you must know: Not all plans are the same.

Other parties will come to you and say: But we also have a plan for NMB. We also have an election manifesto.

And that’s where you need to look very carefully at what these manifestos say. Because it is easy to fill your manifesto with every wild fantasy you can think of. It’s easy to promise the world if you have no intention of keeping any of those promises.

If you look at the ANC’s manifesto, it’s just a list of things they haven’t done for two decades, but now want you to believe they will do after the 1st of November. That’s not going to happen. It’s pure fantasy.

Our manifesto is not just a wish list of free things. Our manifesto takes into account all the real world constraints like budgets, human resources, backlogs and maintenance neglect after decades of ANC government.

It’s a workable, realistic plan built on a foundation of the many successes we have already achieved in local government. A record of action and a promise of more.

No other party can offer such a manifesto.

There are only two parties that have ever governed cities and towns in South Africa – the DA and the ANC – and the ANC wouldn’t dare ask you to look at their track record in local government because it is a mess.

But in the DA manifesto you will see that we have backed up every single pledge we make with our actual track record of what we’ve already achieved on that particular issue where we govern.

And that’s because we have a proud track record in local government. In the municipal rankings by Ratings Africa, the top five municipalities are all DA-run. That’s a remarkable record when you consider we govern less than 10% of South Africa’s 278 municipalities.

All the failing, dysfunctional municipalities are run by the ANC.

That, alone, is all the reason you’ll ever need to vote for the DA. Because local government is all about delivery. It’s about water, electricity, sewage, refuse removal, road maintenance, street lights, public transport, housing and local law enforcement. These are the things that directly influence quality of life.

If a local government cannot get these basics right, the people will suffer. And we are seeing this suffering in dozens of dysfunctional ANC-run towns.

But what also happens when local governments fail to get the basics right is that businesses have to shut down or relocate to places where they are guaranteed the services they need to operate.

And once the businesses leave, these towns become economic ghost towns, and the people who remain there are left with very little hope of ever finding work and building a future.

We’re on a mission in the DA to stop this from happening. We’re on a mission to rescue South Africa’s towns and cities from this decline, and to breathe some life back into them.

I was in Midvaal in Gauteng on the weekend – a lone DA-run municipality in that province – and there you will find one of the clearest examples of the difference an efficient, responsive local government can make.

Midvaal is attracting new investment all the time, while all around it the local economies have stagnated. And the only difference is that Midvaal has a government that inspires confidence – a DA government that gets things done.

But importantly, Midvaal has also had its DA government for ten straight years now, and that is when you start to see the big rewards.

The same thing happened to Cape Town. Because voters entrusted the DA with a second, and then a third term in office there, we were able to bring our long-term vision to life.

Today, successful towns and cities like Midvaal and Cape Town and Stellenbosch and Drakenstein and Mossel Bay are all reaping the benefits of multiple consecutive terms of DA governance, and they now operate on an entirely different level to ANC-run towns.

That’s what we want for Nelson Mandela Bay too. Because this metro has everything a city needs to prosper – harbours, rail, road network, spectacular natural beauty and some truly special people.

The potential of this metropolitan municipality is enormous. It could be South Africa’s next Cape Town. It should be South Africa’s next Cape Town – a city where people go in search of opportunities, not a place people have to leave.

This should be one of our country’s busiest cities – a thriving economic hub that maximises its huge manufacturing, tourism and agriculture potential.

All it needs to achieve this success is a solid stretch of uninterrupted, unencumbered DA governance.

And let me tell you, we came so close in 2016. Close enough to be the biggest party in the metro. Close enough to be the leading party in a coalition government. Close enough to start putting our vision for NMB in place.

But not quite close enough to finally seal the deal.

In 2016 the DA won 57 out of the 120 seats on the NMB council. We were just four seats short of an outright majority here – an outright majority which would have meant five years in which the DA wouldn’t have to rely on flip-flopping coalition partners making ridiculous demands.

Getting those extra four seats also would have made us safe from the attempts of the corrupt to force their way back to the feeding trough they had become accustomed to.

Because that’s exactly what happened here. Only two years into our term, the coalition of corruption pulled off what can only be described as a coup.

They managed to convince one councillor to abstain from a vote – and by “convince” I think you all know what I mean – and that vote put Nelson Mandela Bay back in the hands of the very people who had been bleeding it dry for years.

Another two years later, at the end of 2020, we finally managed to oust them again and put our own mayor back at the helm, but by then all the good work of the first two years under the DA-led coalition had already been undone.

It was an incredibly frustrating chapter for Nelson Mandela Bay, because this metro came so close to freeing itself for good from the corrupt and the incompetent.

The list of achievements the DA-led coalition managed to rack up in those first two years were very impressive indeed.

They managed to turn the city’s R2 billion of debt into a R650 million surplus, and cancelled over R600 million worth of corrupt contracts.

For the first time ever this metro received a AAA credit rating, and NMB went from the second-least trusted to the second-most trusted metro in South Africa, after the City of Cape Town.

The DA-led coalition also established NMB’s first ever Metro Police Force, as well as putting the city’s Integrated Public Transport System buses on the road for the first time.

They immediately went about resurfacing roads that had been neglected for decades, covering over 55,000 square meters, and replacing bucket toilets – reducing these from 16,000 to only 6,000 in those two years.

Under the DA, this metro also managed to achieve the best spending of its Urban Settlements Development Grant, which meant that this grant was then increased by a further R178 million.

Across all departments, and by every metric and criteria, the DA-led coalition had started to turn this metro around, and they had managed to do so in only two years.

But then came the council coup, and from August 2018 till December 2020 NMB was back in the hands of the ANC and its friends. And in those two years everything came to a halt again here.

When the DA administration got back into office in December last year, everything had to start from scratch again, but they’ve wasted no time in ramping up delivery.

Over 300 unlicensed and unserviced metro police vehicles have already been put back on the road, and the total backlog of municipal vehicles with expired license discs has been reduced from 1100 to zero.

Pipe leak repairs have tripled since January, and sewage complaints resolved have doubled since then.

Capital budgets are being spent once more, invoices are being paid faster, grants for housing developments have been reinstated and more title deeds are being processed.

Slowly, this metro is being turned around and pointed in the right direction once more, but it could have been so much better if this project had not been interrupted by the coalition of corruption.

The only way to ensure that this does not happen again is by giving the DA a full mandate to govern. I’m talking about five uninterrupted years in the driving seat, with no one else yanking at the steering wheel or pulling up the handbrake.

If you’re still unsure about the DA’s offer, please read our manifesto, and particularly the parts where we speak of what we have already achieved.

Many of these sections are of particular interest to Nelson Mandela Bay – such as our efforts to shield Cape Town from Day Zero and keep the taps from running dry.

NMB is facing its own serious water crisis, and over the next few years it is critical that its precious water resources are managed responsibly. It is also critical that water infrastructure is maintained and that water augmentation projects are launched.

No government in the world has more experience with this than the DA. When your metro is facing the prospect of taps running dry, you want a DA government in charge.

Similarly, if you want your metro to start reducing its reliance on Eskom so that it can avoid load-shedding, you want a DA government in charge.

If you want your potholes filled, your pipe leaks repaired, your street lights fixed, your roads resurfaced and your refuse collected, you want a DA government in charge.

If you want your metro to look out for your safety and protect you from criminals beyond the limited protection that SAPS can offer, you want a DA government in charge.

And if you want your metro to welcome investment and make it easier for businesses to operate and create jobs, you most certainly want a DA government in charge.

In four weeks’ time you’ll have the opportunity to vote for a local government that can make all of these things happen. So when you look at the options on the ballot paper, ask yourself: Which of these parties can honestly say it gets things done?

You’ll see there is only one. And that is why, on the 1st of November, you have to vote DA.

Viva, DA! Viva!

Help us to bring change to more towns and municipalities by making a donation towards our 2021 Local Government Election campaign, click here.

The following speech was delivered by the DA Federal Leader John Steenhuisen at the Cape Town Civic Centre today.

Today, the DA launches our television advertisement ahead of the local government election on 1 November.

I love this advertisement.

I think you are going to love it too.

Because it carries an honest message that no one can argue with.

THE DA GETS THINGS DONE.

A punchy message that gets to the heart of our offer to voters.

THE DA GETS THINGS DONE.

A message to bring hope to a nation in great need of hope.

THE DA GETS THINGS DONE.

This has been the easiest message for the DA to campaign around.

Because it has the essential quality of truth.

This message has united our party like never before. It has silenced our critics and excited our voters.

Because it’s true!

THE DA GETS THINGS DONE.

Unlike other party slogans, this is not a mere promise that may or may not be fulfilled in the future. It is a statement of fact about things we’ve already done for citizens.

And in fact, we go over and above what is expected of us to protect communities from national failure.

You don’t have to take our word for it, we can show you.

We have so many major and minor DA success stories, all of which constitute overwhelming evidence that THE DA GETS THINGS DONE.

Take water

Need reliable access to clean running water despite a failing national government?

THE DA GETS THINGS DONE.

The City of Cape Town has achieved international recognition for keeping the taps on during a 100-year drought. The way it protected residents from dry taps is considered best-in-world. And we can do the same thing in other water-stressed municipalities if voters give us a full mandate to govern.

Cape Town also leads in pro-poor delivery, with 40% of households receiving free basic water and sanitation which is double the national average, according to Statistics South Africa.

All DA governments test water to ensure it is drinking water quality.

And DA governments lead in providing residents with access to piped water. They lead in maintaining water infrastructure. And they lead in avoiding water losses.

THE DA GETS THINGS DONE.

We are literally vaccinating communities in DA-run areas against national water failures.

Take energy

Need protection from Eskom’s load shedding?

THE DA GETS THINGS DONE.

We have fought hard for municipalities to be allowed to buy electricity direct from independent power producers.

Now our Energy Relisience Project is putting in place measures to enable 6 pilot DA municipalities to do this. This will protect residents from load-shedding and ultimately end reliance on Eskom altogether. This is the only way forward and the DA is leading the way!

The City of Cape Town already protects residents and businesses from one stage of load-shedding through its well-maintained hydropower station at Steenbras Dam.

And DA-led Drakenstein municipality’s Leliefontien pump-as-turbine station generates clean power using potential energy in their existing infrastructure. This station is the first of its kind in SA!

THE DA GETS THINGS DONE.

We are literally vaccinating communities in DA-run areas against national electricity failures.

Take safety

Need a local government that boosts local law enforcement to protect you because national government is failing in its role?

THE DA GETS THINGS DONE.

The City of Cape Town has put 1 100 additional local law enforcement officers on the streets in crime hotspots such as Mitchells Plain, Gugulethu, Kraaifontein, Mfuleni, Harare, Nyanga, Khayelitsha Site B, Delft, Hanover Park and Bishop Lavis. These local law enforcement officers are working closely with SAPS and a massive network of Community Policing Forums and using CCTV and shotspotter technology to keep people safe.

When the DA came into coalition government in Nelson Mandela Bay Metro in 2016, it established a metro police force with 150 officers, where they had been no local police service at all.

THE DA GETS THINGS DONE.

We are literally vaccinating communities in DA-run areas against national policing failures.

Take transport

Want to get around easily?

THE DA GETS THINGS DONE.

Cape Town’s MyCiti bus system provides world-class public transport for residents, as does George Municipality’s Go George bus system.

DA municipalities lead in road-building, pothole-filling, and general road-maintenance, meaning that people living in DA areas have a much easier time getting around.

And they lead in innovation too. Jeffreys Bay’s multiple award-winning, eco-friendly plastic road shows how we can increase the lifespan of roads and reduce maintenance costs while also combating plastic pollution and climate change.

THE DA GETS THINGS DONE.

Take healthcare

Need access to quality healthcare?

THE DA GETS THINGS DONE.

DA government turned the Cape Town International Convention Centre into an 840-bed Hospital of Hope in just 4 weeks. The DA’s quick action in building field hospitals where we govern means no one has been denied medical assistance in DA areas during this pandemic.

Take jobs

Need a better chance of getting a job?

Once again, THE DA GETS THINGS DONE.

Unemployment is over 15 percentage points lower where the DA governs than elsewhere in the country. That’s a massive difference to people’s ability to provide for themselves and their families.

And this is not a coincidence. It’s because we get the basics right.

The things that households need to function – water, electricity, safe streets, transport – are also the things that businesses need to thrive, so that they can create jobs.

And the DA has a simple formula for getting these things done: we appoint public servants on merit – their ability to deliver to people – and we make sure they spend public money on the public.

Clean government

DA governments deliver clean or unqualified audits year after year.

A total of 18 of the Western Cape’s 30 municipalities were awarded clean audits last year and they were all governed by the DA!

DA-run Cape Town has delivered 15 unqualified audits in the 15 years we’ve been in government there.

DA-run Midvaal is the only DA-run municipality in Gauteng, it’s the best-run municipality in Gauteng, and the only one that has a consistent record of clean audits.

The top five best-run municipalities in the country are all governed by the DA, according to independent Ratings Afrika.

And the best-run metro and best-run province in the country are also DA-run.

THE DA GETS THINGS DONE.

This message of actual delivery is a message unique to the DA.

No other party on the ballot paper has a track record of good, clean delivery in government.

The DA is the only party with a record of action and a promise of more.

The only party that can inoculate communities against national failure.

The only party that can stop the death spiral of SA municipalities.

As things get worse under a national ANC government, DA-led provinces and municipalities will be able to protect communities against the worst consequences of state failure.

Failing municipalities are not just running out of money. Crumbling infrastructure means they are running out of the ability to generate an income of their own.

Once services stop, so do payments to municipalities. Local businesses pack up and go elsewhere, taking with them jobs and opportunities for young people.

This is the death spiral that more and more ANC municipalities are stuck in.

Only the DA has shown it can stop this from happening.

By getting the basics right, DA local governments protect communities from state collapse and offer an alternative future.

We are the only party big enough to beat the ANC and keep the EFF out.

And we are the only party trying to unite people of all races around values such a respect for the rule of law and commitment to non-racialism, rather than trying to divide people on the basis of how they look.

But most important for local elections, we are the only party that GETS THINGS DONE.

This is what the local elections on 1 November are all about. Voting for a party that has already demonstrated it can get the basics right.

Nothing else matters, particularly when so many parts of the country are collapsing.

Now is not the time to pick parties that look like you or speak your language.

Now is not the time to split the opposition into so many small parties that can’t get the ANC out.

Now is not the time to pick a single micro-issue and vote for a party only because of that issue.

None of these things will save your town from collapse.

Now is the time to vote for a party that has shown it can protect your town from the worst failures of national government.

Now is the time to vote for the only party that GETS THINGS DONE.

Now is the time to vote DA!

Help us to bring change to more towns and municipalities by making a donation towards our 2021 Local Government Election campaign, click here.

Vind aangeheg ‘n klangreep deur John Steenhuisen.

• Sien fotos hier, hier, hier, hier en hier.  

Vir ‘n geruime tyd vra die Demokratiese Alliansie (DA) vir die skepping van toegewyde landelike veiligheidseenhede om plase en kleinhoewes teen kriminele aanvalle te beskerm. Vandag, hier by Aardklop, vra ons die mense van Tshwane om die DA ‘n 50% plus een meerderheid te gee sodat ons net so ‘n eenheid kan skep as deel van die Tshwane Metropolitaanse Polisie Departement (TMPD).

Alhoewel Tshwane geklassifiseer word as ‘n metropolitaanse munisipaliteit is daar enorme landelike gebiede wat binne die stad se grense val – van Kameeldrift in die noord-ooste, tot Winterveldt in die noord-weste, tot Bronkhorstspruit in die weste. Tshwane se verantwoordelikheid vir hierdie landelike gebiede is ten deels ‘n gevolg van die swak deurdagte samesmelting van Tshwane en die voormalige munisipaliteite Nokeng tsa Taemane en Kungwini in 2011.

Die samesmelting het Tshwane met verskeie finansiele en bestuursprobleme gelos, maar een van die dringendste uitdagings is om die landelike gemeenskappe binne die metro se grense te beveilig. Die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisie misluk met die uitvoering van hierdie taak – nie noodwending omdat individuele beamptes nie probeer nie, maar omdat die nodige politieke ondersteunining, bestuur en hulpbronne ontbreek.

Ons weet ook dat die polisiëring van landelike gemeenskappe bemoeilik word deur swak paaie, swak openbare beligting en ‘n gebrek aan straatname. Inwoners en werkers op plase, natuurreservate en kleinhoewes loop veral deur onder diefstal. Maar hulle is ook kwesbaar as dit kom by geweldsmisdade soos roof, moord en seksuele aanranding. In die tyd wat dit neem om ‘n aanval aan te meld en die polisie te ontbied word slagoffers baiemaal onderwerp aan afgryslike brutaliteit. Ons moet doodeenvoudig iets doen om hierdie golf van geweld te stop.

Daarom verwelkom ons die onderneming deur die Burgemeester van Tshwane, Raadsheer Randall Williams, om ‘n toegewyde TMPD Landelike Veiligheidseenheid op die been te bring as die DA ‘n duidelike mandaat kry om die werk wat ons in 2016 in Tshwane begin het voort te sit. Hierdie onderming vorm deel van die DA-manifes vir Tshwane. Ons sal veg om dit te implimenteer, maar ons beste kans om dit reg te kry is as 50% plus een van Tshwane se kiesers vir die DA stem.

Hier is hoe die eenheid sal werk:

• Dit sal begin met 50 toegewyde lede wie vertroud is met die gebiede waar hulle werksaam sal wees;
• Hierdie getal sal die eenheid in staat stel om in skofte te werk om 24/7 beskikbaarheid te verseker, wat in die praktyk sal neerkom op 10 lede per skof;
• Ten minste vyf (5) voertuie per skof sal vereis word. Maar ander patrolleeringsmetodes sal ook gebruik word, insluitend voetpatrollies en motorfietspatrollies;
• Die sukses van die eenheid sal afhang van effektiewe samewerking met die SA Polisie sowel as gemeenskapspolisieeringsforums, buurtwagte en landbou-organisasies.

Die skepping van die TMPD Landelike Veiligheidseenheid sal maar ‘n eerste stap wees om Tshwane se landelike gemeenskappe te beveilig, maar ons glo dis ‘n belangrike stap. Ons kan nie meer bekostig om die werk van munisipale polisie te beperk tot die afdwing van by-wette en die beheer van verkeer nie – veral as hulle wet die kapasiteit het om meer te doen om gemeenskappe saam te bring in die stryd teen misdaad.

Hierdie is ‘n voorbeeld van hoe die DA dinge gedoen kan kry in munisipaliteite waar ons in beheer is, mits ons ‘n sterk genoeg mandaat van kiesers kry op 1 November. Ons glo dat die TMPD Landelike Veiligheidseenheid en ander inisiatiewe wat gelei word deur DA-beheerde dorpe en stede kan help om ‘n bewoonbare toekoms te skep hier in Suid-Afrika en gemeenskappe te beskerm teen die ergste gevolge van nasionale staatsverval.

• Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by John Steenhuisen.
• Pictures can be downloaded here, here, here, here and here.  

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has long called for the establishment of dedicated rural safety units to protect farms and small holdings from criminal attack. Today, here at Aardklop, we ask the voters of Tshwane to give us a 50% plus one majority so that we can establish just such a unit inside the Tshwane Metropolitan Police Department (TMPD).

Although categorised as a metropolitan municipality, Tshwane incorporates vast rural areas – from Kameeldrift in the north east, to Winterveld in the north west and Bronkhorstpruit in the west. Tshwane’s responsibility for this vast rural periphery is, in part, the result of an ill-conceived merger between the city and the former local municipalities of Nokeng Tsa Taemane and Kungwini in 2011.

This has left Tshwane with many financial and governance challenges, but one of the most pressing is the need to safeguard the rural communities within Tshwane’s borders. The South African Police have failed at this task, not necessarily due to lack of effort by individual officers, but lack of political backing as well as lack of proper management and resources.

We also know that policing efforts in rural communities are often hampered by poor road networks, poor public lighting and lack of street names. Residents and workers on farms, nature reserves and small holdings are particularly vulnerable to theft of stock and equipment, but also violent crimes such as robbery, murder and sexual assault. In the time it takes for crimes to be reported and for the police to respond unspeakable brutality is often inflicted on the victims of these attacks. We have to do something to stop this torrent of violence.

And so we welcome the pledge by the Mayor of Tshwane, Alderman Randall Williams, to establish a TMPD Rural Safety Unit if the DA has the chance to continue the work we started five years ago of turning the city around. This pledge forms part of the DA manifesto for Tshwane, and although we will fight to implement that manifesto, we stand our best chance of succeeding if 50% plus one of the people of Tshwane vote for the DA.

The unit would work as follows:

The unit will start with 50 dedicated members who will be familiar with the areas they will police;

This will allow the unit to work in shifts to ensure 24/7 availability, which in practice will mean 10 members per shift;

This will require at least five (5) vehicles per shift, although various policing methods will be used, including foot patrols and motorcycle patrols;

The success of the unit will depend on effective cooperation with the South African Police as well as community policing forums, neighbourhood watches and farm patrols.

Although the TMPD Rural Safety Unit will be but a first step in making rural communities safer, we believe that it is an important step. We can no longer afford to limit the work of municipal police to by-law enforcement and traffic control, especially if they have the capacity to do more and to bring communities together in the fight against crime.

This is an example of how the DA can get things done in municipalities where we govern, provided we have a strong enough mandate from voters on 1 November. The TMPD Rural Safety Unit and other initiatives led by DA governed towns and cities can help secure a habitable future here in South Africa and protect communities against the worst effects of national state failure.

Help us to bring change to more towns and municipalities by making a donation towards our 2021 Local Government Election campaign, click here.

The following speech was delivered by the Leader of the Democratic Alliance, John Steenhuisen, at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg where parties gathered to sign a pledge and commit themselves, their parties, candidates and supporters to conducting themselves in accordance with the Electoral Code of Conduct.

The IEC needs to police political parties’ conduct.

But its own conduct also needs policing, to ensure it is the independent institution it must be for elections to be free and fair.

We acknowledge that the IEC is under enormous pressure to deliver to tight timelines and we appreciate the hard work the IEC is doing to adhere to the tight timetable.

But while we support the IEC in its work, we won’t hesitate to call the IEC out when it fails the independence test.

Past generations of South Africans sacrificed greatly for the constitutional right of all South African citizens to vote in free and fair elections.

This requires the IEC to ensure a level playing field for campaigning. No favourites.

There needs to be one set of rules for all parties. These rules are not just the IEC’s code of conduct, but also the lockdown restrictions and the entire South African legal framework.

If the IEC favours some political parties over the others by allowing them to break these rules, then the IEC is failing in its fundamental role to ensure free and fair elections.

And indeed, some parties are breaking the rules and appear to be getting away with it.

Political party funding act.

In terms of the Political Party Funding Act, the IEC needs to be clear about which parties have refused to report on their large donations, as distinct from those parties which have no large donations to report.

Furthermore, the Act needs to be amended to give the IEC the powers to audit parties.

The EFF is quite clearly spending more than it would be able to do if it weren’t getting large donations. Yet they have failed to disclose any of these donations. Their finances need to be audited.

Party declarations cannot just be taken at face value. We have already seen in this campaign period that some parties are more than willing to break the law.

Rally size

Both the ANC and EFF’s manifesto launches were in breach of lockdown regulations, which at the time limited outdoor gatherings to 500 people.

Their willingness to break the law puts law-abiding parties such as the DA at a distinct disadvantage.

What action is the IEC taking to protect the fairness of this election in this regard?

It is critical that the IEC takes proactive steps to ensure parties adhere to regulations and are appropriately sanctioned when they do not.

Conclusion

The rule of law is a core operating principles for the DA, and we will continue to abide by all the laws of the land, including those set out in the IEC’s code of conduct.

We call on the IEC to protect SA’s constitutional democracy by ensuring all the other parties do so too.

It’s time to put the I back into IEC.

Help us to bring change to more towns and municipalities by making a donation towards our 2021 Local Government Election campaign, click here.