Author: samanthab

The Democratic Alliance (DA) extends its sincerest condolences to the family and loved ones of Raymond Ackerman following his passing.

Raymond was a true democrat and a proud South African whose commitment to our country’s growth and development is well-documented in the success of the Pick n’ Pay franchise.

Having purchased four Pick n’ Pay stores in the chain’s infancy in the 1960s, Raymond Ackerman transformed not only the franchise, but redefined the supermarket sector in South Africa always with the consumer in mind.

From pioneering cheaper products that still retained Pick n’ Pay’s renowned quality in the No-Name Brand, to fighting for the deregulation of the South African fuel price, to bringing the ease of banking services in-store, Raymond was a true pioneer in the industry who has left a truly indelible mark.

For decades millions of South African consumers have been able to put quality, nutritious food on the table because of Raymond Ackerman’s vision.

Most importantly, Raymond Ackerman’s ambition and sense of innovation, coupled with his deep love for country, are responsible for the hundreds of thousands of jobs in the Southern African region which have sustained families and grown economies for the betterment of our country over decades.

It is Raymond Ackerman’s maverick business sense and entrepreneurial courage which created the blueprint for retail success in South Africa.

Raymond Ackerman’s legacy includes a proud commitment to giving back to the community, ensuring that access to opportunity is ever present for the millions of entrepreneurial South Africans in search of a better life.

We at the DA are grateful for Raymond’s contribution to our country and will ensure that his fight for an open, equal opportunity society continues.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time. We mourn with the country the loss of one of our business and retail giants, and a proud and true South African.

Be part of the mission to rescue South Africa, get help registering to vote at check.da.org.za

It is the ultimate indictment on Cyril Ramaphosa’s Presidency that nearly six years since he promised to conduct lifestyle audits on Members of the National Executive, as announced in his 2018 State of the Nation (SONA) reply, this process is still shockingly incomplete and inconclusive.

As South Africa nears the end of its Sixth Parliament, citizens still do not know how many of their ministers are ANC crooks.

This revelation, admitted by President Ramaphosa in response to my parliamentary question today, is even more damning when one considers the numerous media exposés and investigations which have found evidence that his very own Deputy President Paul Mashatile, among others, lives a life of opulence well beyond his means and bankrolled by those implicated in State Capture.

The DA will continue to submit written questions to the President to track the process of lifestyle audits for the Executive so that South Africans can know once and for all the extent of ANC corruption at the head of our government.

We deserve to know which Ministers are corrupt and belong in jail.

This admittance demonstrates that President Ramaphosa’s promise to clean up and clean out the corrupt government of the ANC rings hollow, and that corruption and state capture have not ceased, but merely been extended, under his term of office.

Indeed, President Ramaphosa is no different to his predecessor, Jacob Zuma.

Democratic Alliance (DA) Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde, initiated and concluded thorough and comprehensive lifestyle audits of all members of his provincial executive, which was at all times made transparent and accessible to the public, within six months of promising them.

It is simply unacceptable that the same process cannot, or perhaps will not, be replicated by an ANC President in the National Executive. How many more ANC skeletons is President Ramaphosa trying to hide?

It is equally unacceptable that President Ramaphosa can blame the delay in this process on a change of service providers.

South Africans are tired of the excuses made to allow impunity to reign supreme under this government.

South Africans are tired of getting poorer, hungrier, and more desperate while ANC Ministers live lives of luxury that continue to go unchecked.

If South Africans want a government that is not corrupt, that spends money on the people and not the politicians, then they must register to vote the ANC out.

There will be no New Dawn for South Africa until dusk reaches the ANC.

Be part of the mission to rescue South Africa, get help registering to vote at check.da.org.za

Note to Editors: A voicenote from the Leader of the Democratic Alliance, John Steenhuisen, is attached here. 

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s attendance of Emmerson Mnangagwa’s inauguration as President of Zimbabwe today demonstrates the extent to which the ANC is removed from the plight of the Zimbabwean people under the ZANU-PF’s longstanding autocratic dictatorship, and the ANC’s complete and utter disregard for our own founding principles of freedom and democracy which the ZANU-PF has killed.

By showing support for the ZANU-PF, Ramaphosa is endorsing a stolen government and a stolen democracy that has caused hyperinflation, the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy, the suffering of tens of millions of fellow Africans, and the mass migration of much of Zimbabwe’s population causing immense instability in the Southern African region.

The ANC should hang its head in shame for giving any sense of legitimacy to a party and a government that has violated every one of South Africa’s very own founding values and principles.

The Democratic Alliance stands with the people of Zimbabwe against ZANU-PF’s long-standing regime of military kleptocracy and opposition suppression.

We believe the people of Zimbabwe deserve to enjoy all the freedoms and benefits of a functional democracy: the ability to elect their public representatives in regular free and fair elections; the ability to hold leaders accountable for abusing power; and freedom of speech and association.

Instead, Zimbabwe is an utterly broken country whose 16 million citizens are held in hunger and despair and denied dignity, healthcare and education, so that a small, highly extractive ZANU-PF elite can live a life of obscene luxury in a closed cycle of parasitic dependence.

Observers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have confirmed that the Zimbabwean election in late August, like all elections since the ZANU-PF’s ascent to power, was conducted highly irregularly.

It is very clear that this election was nothing more than a fig leaf for the ZANU-PF’s re-entrenchment of an extractive and violently oppressive government under the guise of democracy.

The DA views Nelson Chamisa and his Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) as the truly elected leader and party of Zimbabwe.

Evidently, ZANU-PF does too, which is why they went to such extreme lengths to suppress the opposition, including denying them the right to hold rallies and to communicate on the state broadcasting system, and by ensuring insufficient ballot papers in urban areas where the CCC has strong support.

Freedom-loving South Africans should be asking their government and the ANC why they are endorsing violent political oppression, corruption, and civil suffering in our neighbouring country.

No South African should tolerate our government’s complete disregard for the suffering of the Zimbabwean people to sustain an outdated African fraternity that has no place in the free world.

South Africa should reject this fraternity of dictators and instead stand up for the democratic principles upon which South Africa’s constitution is founded.

We should stand by the people of Zimbabwe and use our considerable influence to ensure that democracy returns to Zimbabwe, restoring hope for progress and prosperity in our region.

The DA condemns President Cyril Ramaphosa’s attendance of Emmerson Mnangagwa’s inauguration in the strongest possible terms. We cannot be a country that sacrifices human suffering and oppression at the altar of political expediency.

President Ramaphosa’s actions today have only demonstrated that the ANC does not care about freedom, democracy, and human rights. He has shown the world that the ANC does not have the courage to continue the fight for freedom in our own region that South Africa so valiantly won in 1994.

Be part of the mission to rescue South Africa, get help registering to vote at check.da.org.za

Note to Editors: The following speech was delivered today by the DA Federal Leader John Steenhuisen in Athlone, during the announcement of the party’s Western Cape Premier Candidate for the National and Provincial Elections in 2024.

Good morning fellow democrats,

Dis is ‘n groot voorreg om vanoggend met elkeen van u te praat om die DA se premiers-kandidaat vir die Wes-Kaap aan te kondig.

Over the past month, I have crisscrossed South Africa – from Gauteng to the Free State and, just last week, the Northern Cape.

For those of you lucky enough to call the Western Cape home, I can assure you that it is absolutely eye-opening to see the true state of the rest of our beloved country.

In the rest of South Africa, law and order has all but collapsed.

In the rest of South Africa, 10 000 convicted criminals are released by the President to create cover for a convicted criminal, Jacob Zuma, to be let free.

In the rest of South Africa, the Reserve Bank lets you off the hook when you have millions of undeclared dollars in your couch.

In the rest of South Africa, you dodge pieces of road rather than potholes.

And the only running water many communities have is when sewerage runs down their streets.

But not here.

Here, in the Western Cape, law and order reigns supreme.

In the Western Cape, every single person is equal before the law.

In the Western Cape, violence will get you nowhere – a lesson that the taxi gangs learned recently.

This commitment to the rule of law is the foundation of the DA difference.

It is because of the DA’s commitment to this sacred principle, that violent crime is coming down in the Western Cape.

The DA has invested over R1 billion to deploy over 1 200 additional law enforcement officers under the LEAP programme.

As a result, murder is down 5.7% in the Western Cape!

In the most dangerous areas in the province, murder is down 48% in Kraaifontein, 26% in Philippi East and 57% in Samora Machel.

We are literally saving lives in the Western Cape because of the DA’s commitment to the rule of law.

The rule of law also provides the foundation for economic growth in this province.

Prospective investors in the Western Cape know that corruption is not tolerated and that we view business as a partner in growth, rather than as an enemy.

That is why investment is flooding into this province.

En dit is die mense van die Wes-Kaap wat die vrugte pluk.

The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey shows that the Western Cape has – by far – the lowest unemployment rate in South Africa.

While the national unemployment rate is 32.6%, it is 11.7% lower here in the Western Cape.

In the last year alone, 368 000 more people found work in the Western Cape.

This means that 368 000 more people are able to put food on the table for their families and a roof over their heads.

As a time when millions of South Africans can no longer feed their families due to a cost of living crisis, this DA-run province is creating the jobs that are saving lives.

But in this party, we know that businesses cannot grow sustainably without a reliable supply of electricity.

Load shedding is an ANC crime against the people of South Africa.

It is destroying businesses every single day.

It is costing jobs every day.

It is costing lives every day as our criminals come out as soon as our streets go dark.

And there is only one party in this country that is fighting to end load shedding.

That party is the DA.

The Western Cape is investing R7 billion to become the first province in the country to end load shedding.

Cape Town already protects residents against up to two stages of load shedding.

With the DA in government, we are set to increase that protection until we end load shedding altogether.

Ladies and gentleman,

This is the DA’s record of action in the Western Cape.

And it was achieved for one reason, and one reason only: because the DA has an outright majority of more than 50% in the Western Cape.

None of this happened by accident.

It is only possible because the people of this province have given the DA more than 50% in every election since 2009.

And our flag bearer on this project since 2019, is our incumbent premier.

There’s an old saying that applies to our premier candidate in the Western Cape:

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

That is why it is my privilege to announce today that the DA’s premier candidate for the Western Cape is none other than Premier Alan Winde!

This is the man who has led the DA effort to ensure that this province becomes the best-run region in South Africa.

This is the leader who has kept this province moving forward even as the state collapses in other parts of South Africa.

But Alan, and the DA, have not done it alone.

None of this would be possible without the support of the people of the Western Cape.

To the voters of the Western Cape, I want to say that in this province we have:

A lot to be proud of. A lot more to do. But also a lot to lose.

We must be under absolutely no illusion that there is a coalition of corruption out there who are desperate to get their hands on this province.

It drives the ANC mad to see the progress the DA is making in this province.

That is why they refuse to devolve control over the police and railways to the Western Cape.

Because they know the DA will fix the police!

They know we will fix the railways!

And the ANC doesn’t want to see that because it will embarrass them even more.

At the same time, the ANC also knows that it has no chance of winning its own majority in this province.

That is why they have put together a gang of small parties to try and drag the DA below 50% here.

Parties like the Patriotic Alliance, Good, Al Jama-Ah, COPE and the NCC are nothing but glorified ANC branches.

These parties are the ANC in drag.

Hulle dra dalk ‘n groen of ‘n oranje hempie – maar onder daai hempie is ‘n ANC vest!

Ons moet nie val vir hierdie rampokkers nie.

 

Die PA en al hierdie ander klein partye is nie opposisie teen die ANC nie – hulle is die ANC!

 

We cannot allow this gang of losers to take us for fools in the Western Cape.

We have to see through their lies and protect the progress we have made here.

Because we have a lot to lose.

If the DA falls below 50% in the Western Cape, a Doomsday Coalition composed of the ANC, EFF, PA and other small parties will take control.

They will bring the same corruption and collapse to this province that they have unleased in the rest of the country.

We have already gotten a bitter foretaste of what this looks like.

In Beaufort-West, Gayton McKenzie promised to turn the town into the next Dubai.

He even raised R3 million from donors at a fancy even in Sandton, which he promised would be spent on the people of Beaufort-West.

Maar waar is daai geld nou?

 

Nie ‘n sent daarvan is Beaufort-Wes toe nie!

 

This is straight out of the ANC playbook and Gayton must pay back the money that disappeared!

And look at what they did to Knysna and Theewaterskloof.

The PA and Good sold those municipalities to the ANC.

The DA refused to allow the PA to deploy its corrupt cadres in Knysna, so they collapsed our coalition and joined the ANC.

In less than two years, they took the well-run council we left behind and today they have admitted that Knysna is bankrupt.

The PA and Good helped the ANC loot Beaufort-West, Knysna and Theewaterskloof into bankruptcy, and that is exactly what they plan to do to the whole Western Cape if they ever get power!

My fellow Democrats,

We simply cannot allow this.

Because, above all else, the Western Cape represents hope.

Hope that South Africa can be saved.

That we can become a winning country.

If the DA loses its outright majority in the Western Cape, hope will be lost.

People will lose faith that South Africa be saved.

That is what we are fighting for.

Hope.

And it is a fight we must win.

That is why I am calling on Alan, on the provincial leadership, and on every single DA activist today, to intensify your efforts to register every single DA voter in this province.

We must never underestimate the desperation of the ANC, EFF and their partners in parties like the PA.

They are power hungry, and they are coming to destroy what we have built in the Western Cape.

So let’s go out there and ensure that, next year, the DA – under the leadership of Premier Alan Winde – wins its biggest majority ever in the Western Cape so that we can keep hope alive for the country we all love!

Thank you.

At a press briefing in Kimberley today, DA Leader John Steenhuisen announced the Democratic Alliance (DA) Premier Candidate for the Northern Cape Province: DA Provincial Chairperson Isak Fritz MPL.

Today’s announcement will lay yet another stone in the foundation of the DA’s plan to rescue South Africa from decades of entrenched ANC cadre deployment, corruption, and mismanagement which has brought the province of the Northern Cape to its knees.

This is a province of immense, yet untapped potential that has been squandered at the hands of the ANC, bringing further suffering and misery to its people.

The DA can win the Northern Cape, and with the help of Isak Fritz and his team, we can bring clean and excellent governance that delivers opportunity for all.

Isak Fritz is a longstanding member of the Democratic Alliance, having been actively involved in the party for nearly three decades.

He has served diligently and excellently at branch and constituency level between 1996 and 2001, on party election campaigns in the Northern Cape with then Federal Leader, Helen Zille, and on a number of screening and selection panels for public representatives in the province.

Isak has been a public representative in the provincial legislature since 2014, serving as Caucus Chairperson since 2016, and as Chief Whip since 2021.

He is a member of the the social development and health portfolios where he has passionately championed the issues of access to quality healthcare, education, and social services for the upliftment of Northern Cape communities across the province.

In 2017, Isak was awarded a Diploma in Advanced Governance and Public Leadership from the Wits School of Governance at the University of Witwatersrand. This technical and academic knowledge, along with the practical experience of serving as a public representative, have made him a formidable public representative and leader in his province, and an ideal candidate for Premier.

During his time as a Member of the Provincial Legislature, Isak has actively and persistently fought for the rights of healthcare workers, including those who unfairly lost their jobs or were not paid, and those whose appointments dragged on because of administrative bungles.

He also has a solid understanding of the constitutional framework that determines provincial competencies and governs provincial legislatures, which enables him to spearhead effective campaigns for greater devolution of powers to provinces.

Isak Fritz’s main priorities for fixing the Northern Cape include:

Ending load shedding and cutting red tape to get the Northern Cape economy working and growing;

Fixing the broken health system to provide access to quality healthcare in even the most remote corners of the province;

and

Fixing and fast tracking the roll out of basic services by using the Northern Cape Department of Co-Operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs as an incubator for broken municipalities where a focus to fix the Northern Cape from the ground up will be priority number one.

In the next nine months, Isak will travel across every inch of the vast Northern Cape, winning the hearts and votes of communities in towns even in the most far-flung rural areas of this province.

The quest to grow party support is non-negotiable if we are to rebuild the Northern Cape, with Isak Fritz at the helm.

In the last election, the ANC in the Northern Cape clung to power with less than a single percent of the vote.

Never before has the ANC in the Northern Cape come so close to losing its majority.

With the announcement of the Multi-Party Charter for South Africa, Northern Cape voters now have every reason to be excited about change that is now within reach.

If the Northern Cape wants a government that delivers, its people must register to vote in 2024.

This Premier Candidate announcement shows that the DA is ready to govern the Northern Cape in 2024.

It is time that we restore service delivery, uplift millions of forgotten citizens, and reignite pride and a sense of belonging to the people of this precious but neglected province.

Be part of the mission to rescue South Africa, get help registering to vote at check.da.org.za