Two years on, and DA-led metros have brought change to millions of South Africans

The following remarks were delivered by the Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), Mmusi Maimane, in Greater Ellis Park in Johannesburg today. The Leader was joined by the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, and the Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Solly Msimanga.

Two years ago to the day, history was made when the Democratic Alliance (DA) was elected into government in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay – the first time the ANC had lost control of these cities. As soon as agreements were finalised, coalition governments with several political parties were formed to serve the people and bring about real change.

From day one, it was clear that the governments inherited from previous administrations were in shambles – both financially and administratively. These administrations were endemically corrupt and heavily bloated which will again be the case if the ANC are ever again trusted to govern these cities.

Since then, these governments have been hard at work putting residents first by cutting corruption, prioritising service delivery, and passing pro-poor budgets in order to create jobs. This is a responsibility that we do not take lightly.

Any modern economy’s prospect for sustainable development and growth hinges on the effectiveness of city-led economic growth. And the Greater Ellis Park area that we find ourselves in today is a visionary example of the sustainable growth of a city within a city. This is an example of how Mayor Mashaba is turning dilapidated and abandoned land in the Johannesburg inner city and revitalising it – creating low-cost housing and job creating industry to address historical injustices.

The very property we are on today is one of 71 pieces of inner city land earmarked as commercial and residential development for the benefit of the people of eGoli. This 1 640 square metre site is intended for the development of mixed income housing.

Johannesburg’s New Doornfontein City Improvement District (CID) continues to pioneer the utility of industrial land in the east inner city. What was the City’s historic manufacturing hub went to ruin under the previous ANC government, but is now on the cusp of being transformed.

The diverse space of land is set to be used as a manufacturing hub for mostly warehousing, light industry and amenities, an educational precinct, a mixed-use area for largely manufacturing, light engineering, warehousing, office and retail and at the heart of the development, a sports mecca space.

This is only one shining example of the DA difference that continues to transform the lives of more than 16 million South Africans living under a DA government. While we may have inherited metro governments that had long been forgotten by the ANC, DA governments will never take for granted those we serve – and the more than R100 billion in pro-poor budgets that were successfully passed in these governments are testament to this.

Today is a day to celebrate the first 24 months of DA-led coalition governments in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay as they lead in the fight to create jobs, stand up against crime, cut corruption and build One South Africa For All. These DA-led governments will continue to stand tall as beacons of hope for the South Africa of tomorrow.

City of Johannesburg

This hope was cultivated when upon assuming office in August 2016, the City of Johannesburg set itself the ambitious task of growing Johannesburg’s economy to 5% by 2021. This remains a high target but was a goal the Mayor’s team needed to reach to create jobs and turn the rising tide against unemployment in the City.

From day one, the DA-led City of Johannesburg made jobs and growth its primary focus. By creating an enabling environment for entrepreneurs and businesses to grow, it was only a matter of time before the results began to show.

Despite the continued rise in the national expanded unemployment rate to 37.2% in the second quarter of 2018, the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) released by Stats SA earlier this week shows this government has created an environment that produced 109 000 new jobs since the beginning of the year. This was achieved while reducing the expanded unemployment rate from 32.3% to 30.8%. If this trend continues, the City is well on its way to reaching the goal of 5% growth by 2021.

Quality infrastructure and the stabilisation of services will always be a non-negotiable for business in the continent’s economic capital. The City has met this expectation by not only renewing infrastructure and stabilising services but establishing a responsive, dedicated, accountable and professional civil service that inspires confidence with the people of Johannesburg and delivers world-class services that will continue to make Johannesburg an attractive destination for investment.

The Khoebo Opportunity Centre has seen hundreds of young entrepreneurs walk through its doors, turning ideas into small businesses. The roll out of these Opportunity Centres are beginning to assist residents with crucial skills and support to grow their businesses so that they too can create job opportunities. In addition to Khoebo, the City’s goal is to create 13 more Opportunity Centres through Johannesburg, deepening access to jobs with two in every one of the seven regions throughout the City by 2021.

Crime and corruption have become public enemy number one in the City of Johannesburg, and we are winning the war. More than 3 500 cases of corruption and maladministration involving almost R18 billion has been uncovered by the newly established Group Forensics and Investigation Services (GFIS) and the recruitment of an additional 1 500 Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) officers has ensured the streets of Johannesburg are much safer. The launch of Operation Buya Mthetho has seen to more than 8 000 arrests by law enforcement officials since the beginning of the year.

Over 20 000 arrests have been made by the JMPD, and the GFIS has a specialised unit that counter-acts building hijacking syndicates and returns properties that have been hijacked to their rightful owners. With the assistance of the JMPD, this unit has already returned 73 buildings to their rightful owners.

A free Community Substance Abuse Treatment Centres has been opened which includes provision for a 24-hour crisis line where the people of Johannesburg can speak with caring professional staff to get the help that they need. By the end of this financial year there will be eight of these Centres reaching areas such as Poortjie, Bophelong and Cosmo City.

In order to open up access to health services, extended operating hours within City clinics have ensured that residents do not have to decide between making it to work and receiving medical attention, and so that students never have to choose between going to school and accessing healthcare.

City of Tshwane

The City of Tshwane has also become the talk of the town with the Capital City having allocated R137.2 million towards Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) initiatives this financial year. In September last year, much needed reforms to the City’s EPWP recruitment policy were introduced, effectively ending the system of insiders and outsiders that have previously marred EPWP job opportunities.

Tshwane’s reformed EPWP recruitment policy framework is built on the principle of transparency. The selection process involves an open public lottery system where beneficiaries are randomly selected so that no individual can be approached or lobbied to occupy any of the work opportunities available in the City.

The new DA government inherited a major housing backlog, and corruption and maladministration had taken over the building and allocation of houses to the poorest of residents. While many live without the dignity of a brick and mortar home, previous ANC mayors lived in lavish luxury in the so called “Mayoral Mansion”. This mansion was put up for sale and on 23 November last year it was sold for R5.1 million in order to build houses for those without. Proceeds made from the sale are already being used to build 40 houses for those without.

Over the past two years, great strides have been made towards stabilising the City’s finances. This was achieved by strengthening the controls over supply chain processes, slashing unauthorised and unnecessary expenditure and extricating the City from unlawful and expensive contracts.

This has resulted in turning a R2 billion inherited deficit into a surplus. The reported operating deficit for 2015/16 was R2.1 billion which was restated to R1.3 billion during the next financial year’s audit process. This is evidence of a DA-run City handling public money with care, ensuring it is spent on the people, not politicians.

The Capital City closed the financial year with an operating surplus of R704 million.

Nelson Mandela Bay

On the other end of the country, the Nelson Mandela Bay coalition government has had all the odds stacked against them from day one. But in the face of adversity, a budget that focused on low-income communities, housing and informal settlement upgrades, roads, lights and community facilities was passed.

Prudent budgeting enabled the first Metro Police Service in the Eastern Cape to have been launched in Nelson Mandela Bay to tackle the scourge of crime in the City. Working closely with the South African Police Service (SAPS), they have seen to an 11% decrease in gang related crimes in the City’s most dangerous communities such as Helenvale where a pilot project with Shot Spotter has improved response times and seen a number of critical arrests made.

The service has grown to 135 officers and 38 patrol vehicles with a specialised bicycle unit, ghost squad and bylaw enforcement unit in operation. It has been such a success that the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Police Department’s Annual Police Plan format was adopted as the blueprint to be used by all Metro Police Departments nationwide.

In two years, the rooting out of corrupt senior officials, securing and monitoring of SCM offices and opening up of the Bid Adjudication Committee (BIC) to the public has turned around the City’s finances and SCM and ensured that every penny is accounted for. The City is now liquid with over R2 billion in the bank, has a steadily rising collection rate and achieves some of the best capital expenditure in the country.

NMB recently received a AAA credit rating and a windfall Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG) allocation of R178.8 million on top of the R911 million received at the beginning of the financial year. The City has succeeded in spending close to R1.1 billion on capital works that has directly improve the lives of the poor and made for better service delivery.

Services such as the Assistance to the Poor (ATTP) will see recipients receive R2 billion over the medium term, while R1.5 million is going to be spent on informal trading (EDTA) infrastructure. Almost half a billion rand has been apportioned to upgrading housing and informal settlements, human settlement projects, a bucket eradication programme, informal housing and electrification programmes. To date 9 000 of the 16 000 bucket toilets inherited from the previous ANC government have been eradicated.

To ensure the safety of their roads, more than half a billion rand has been put aside for roads and lighting. In addition to this, R150 million has been reserved for the upgrading and development of community facilities like Multi-Purpose Centres, libraries, sports facilities, parks and open public spaces.

Conclusion

These DA-led governments have put the people of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay first by creating jobs, waging war on crime, crushing corruption, delivering nothing but the best services and passing over R100 billion in pro-poor budgets. This is a total change for more than 16 million South Africans.

Change forced the ANC to realise that they cannot govern with impunity. This DA difference has come to be expected of us where govern and we would not have it any other way. South Africans deserve excellence in government and we hold ourselves to very high standards in pursuit of this.

These are not simply cherry-picked success stories. They are very real examples of the opportunities that exist for more than 16 million people who live under DA-led governments.

One of the greatest privileges one can ever be entrusted with is a mandate from the people to serve and it is these DA-led governments’ past two years of service to the residents of these great cities that we should all be celebrating today.

Register to vote for real change, not populist empty promises

The follow remarks were made today by DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane, at the IEC Offices in Tembisa, Gauteng. Maimane was joined by DA Federal Youth Leader, Luyolo Mphithi.

My fellow South Africans,

With only months to go until the election next year, it is important that we talk honestly and openly about the real choices each and every one of us will have to make.

I say “real” choices, because we need to distinguish fact from fiction. There is plenty of fiction going around these days, presented as election promises and even government policy.

Every day in every desperate community across our country we see and hear fantastical stories offered up by parties who have no intention of ever delivering on these promises.

Land, jobs, wealth, better services, free education – they make it sound so easy. But they never explain how they will deliver any of this from our shrinking economy, because they simply can’t.

This scramble for voter support by saying whatever despairing people want to hear, no matter how unachievable, has a name. It’s called populism. And typically, once voting day has come and gone, these pledges are discarded and forgotten until the next election.

Populism might sound revolutionary, but it is real-world plans that solve problems. And that’s why we need to separate fact from fiction before we go to the polls.

Fiction is when our president travels abroad, telling the world they must come and invest here, but back home he does everything he can to scare future investors off.

Fiction is when the ANC and EFF both try to convince desperate South Africans that land expropriation without compensation will somehow instantly improve their lives, when every shred of historical evidence says it will do the exact opposite.

Fiction is when the ANC government talks about turning our economy around and creating jobs, but then carries on doing exactly what got us into this trouble in the first place.

And believe me, we are in deep, deep trouble. Two days ago Stats SA released the latest jobs numbers – the Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the second quarter of 2018.

Officially, our unemployment rate went up to 27.2%, or 6.1 million South Africans. But forget about the official rate, because that doesn’t tell the full story. The official rate only includes people still actively looking for work.

If you’ve lost hope of ever finding a job and have given up looking, then you fall into the “expanded” definition of unemployment. And this number has now gone up to 37.2% of the working-age population.

A staggering 9.63 million South Africans who need to work and who want to work, cannot find work. That’s 154,000 more than in the first quarter of this year.

For those under 24 years old, the unemployment rate soars to 67.1%. Let that sink in: more than two thirds of our young people cannot find work.

This is the single biggest issue of our time. This will be what will make or break us as a nation. Because if we cannot find a way to put these young people in jobs, then there is no future for our country.

So these are our choices. We can either fool ourselves into believing the fiction that says the ANC and EFF’s plans of rampant nationalisation, expropriation and taxation will somehow miraculously do the opposite of what every expert is predicting, or we can deal in facts.

I am a facts person. I like to gather as much evidence as I can, listen to as many experts as I can, weigh up all the possible positive and negative outcomes and then make a decision based on these facts.

And the facts say that only through clean government, business-friendly policy and hard work will we turn our country around. This approach may not grab the headlines like the populists with their make-believe slogans do, but it’s the only one that will work.

The facts say that if we are to have any hope of creating jobs for the millions of unemployed South Africans, then it will have to happen through economic growth. Real growth of 5 or 6 or 7% per year, not the paltry 1.2% forecast for our economy.

The facts say that this growth is only possible through a flourishing private sector – businesses large and small – and not through an inefficient and corrupt state that owns and controls everything.

The facts say that threatening people’s property rights and expropriating their land leads to economic and agricultural collapse, as we saw in both Zimbabwe and Venezuela.

The facts say that people want dignity and freedom that come with employment, rather than dependence on the state.

The facts say that if you want to equip young people for the future, then excellence in education – and specifically in subjects like maths and science – is non-negotiable.

These are the facts, but you won’t find any of them in the populism of the ANC or the EFF. There you will only find pie-in-the-sky promises of free everything for everyone – promises that no one can possibly keep.

This is something young South Africans need to think about very carefully. If you are in your late teens or early twenties in this country, then you are in a population group that suffers the highest unemployment rate in the entire world.

But, at this age, you are also about to vote in your very first ever election. And this presents you with a powerful opportunity to tear up the miserable story written for you by this government, and to write your own future.

This is a rare and precious opportunity. If you don’t use it, then you will have wasted your best chance at changing the course of history for the better. And believe me, you will regret it.

But the first step is to ensure that your name appears correctly on the voter’s roll. Every election, thousands of young voters wake up too late and have to accept that their first ever election will take place without them.

Don’t let this happen to you. Take your ID document – either your green barcoded ID book or your ID smartcard – to an IEC office during office hours on weekdays where you will be asked to complete a registration form.

Make sure your name is on the roll. Make sure you get to participate in our democracy. Because the only way we will save our country from the corrupt and the selfish is if those with the most at stake play their part.

The best way to honour Mandela is to save our children from a failed education

The following remarks were delivered today by Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader, Mmusi Maimane, at Lotanang Primary School in Polokwane, Limpopo. The Leader was joined by DA Limpopo Provincial Leader, Jacques Smalle, and DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Basic Education, Nomsa Marchesi.

Today, across the country, we remember the life and sacrifice of our first democratic President and the father of our nation, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. But if we are to truly honour his legacy, then we have to go beyond our symbolic 67 minutes of service on this day. We must fight, every day, for the values he stood for.

One thing that mattered to him more than anything else was looking after our children and preparing them for a better future through education. But judging by the way our children fare in international benchmark studies like the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), it is clear that our government has turned its back on young South Africans.

By failing our children in education, the ANC is betraying the legacy of Nelson Mandela.

The PIRLS test measures literacy in Grade 4 children, and this is significant because it is in the Foundation Phase – Grades 1 to 3 – that children must learn to read with comprehension. From Grade 4 onwards, as school work becomes more complex and the subjects increase, it is essential that they have this skill. They must learn to read before they can read to learn.

Our results in these studies are shameful. According to the most recent PIRLS study, only one in four South African children in Grade 4 can read with sufficient comprehension. 78% of our children cannot read for meaning in any language. They have fallen so far behind by age ten that they are unlikely to ever catch up. Of the 50 countries tested, South Africa came last.

And when you look at the results across different provinces, it is even more damning. Here in Limpopo, a staggering 91% of Grade 4 learners cannot read for meaning, and it’s not much better in provinces like the Eastern Cape (85%) and Mpumalanga (83%). Compare this with the Western Cape (55%) and it becomes clear that not only are we failing to prepare our children for the future, but we are also condemning children from certain provinces to a life with precious few prospects. Make no mistake, 55% in the Western Cape still isn’t good enough by a long shot, but it is significantly better than anywhere else.

PIRLS is a comprehensive, nationally representative study. In 2016 it tested almost 13,000 children from 293 schools. Importantly, it tested in all South African languages. And it is in our African languages – Sepedi (93%), Setswana (90%), Tshivenda (89%), isiXhosa (88%), isiZulu (87%) and isiNdebele (87%) where our children fare worst. This is how the legacy of Apartheid is entrenched across generations.

In the most recent TIMSS study, which tests maths and science after Grades 4 and 8, we fared no better, ranking second-last out of 48 countries tested for maths in both these grades and last for science after Grade 8. We didn’t participate in the Grade 4 science test. This is an appalling indictment on the delivery of basic education in this country.

If Mandela Day should remind us of one thing, it is how far we have fallen short in preparing our children for the future. We all know Mandela’s well-known quote where he said: “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. But if we are not prepared to arm our children with this weapon, we cannot claim to be upholding the Mandela legacy.

There are many things we must fix in our schools. These include keeping our children safe, making sure those on school feeding programmes are fed, providing scholar transport for those who need it and providing all the reading books, work books and text books these children need. But the most important steps we must take immediately to ensure that our children – and particularly those in the Foundation Phase – don’t fall behind are the following:

  • Ensuring that all teachers are qualified to teach their subjects. This means getting a clear picture of the qualification of all our teachers, and urgently upskilling those who fall short.
  • Ensuring that teachers are present to teach. This means curbing the destructive influence of SADTU and declaring certain aspects of teaching an Essential Service.
  • Reducing classroom overcrowding. Adequate individual attention in the Foundation Phase is key to learner progress. This means not only creating sufficient teaching posts at all schools, but also ensuring a steady supply of qualified teachers as well as filling all the posts where they are available.

Our failed education is part of a system that locks black children out of opportunity. If we don’t change this system, these boys and girls will forever be left poor.

We must rescue our children from the fate this ANC government has condemned them to. Our future, as a nation, depends on it. But this will not happen if we continue to let SADTU hold our schools to ransom and deprive our children from their right to a quality education.

Until we do so, our symbolic gestures on Mandela Day will ring hollow.

 

DA Budget Vote Speeches: Department of Health, DEDT and CoGTA

 The following speeches were delivered in the Mpumalanga Legislature during a sitting today.

Debate on Budget Vote: Department Health

Jane Sithole MPL – The Mpumalanga Department of Health needs a complete overhaul

DA Spokesperson on Health

082 854 9711

Debate on Budget Vote: Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

James Masango MPL – With poor service delivery increasing, it is unacceptable that the allocation to strengthening municipalities decreased by 64%.

DA Spokesperson on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

082 891 0717

Debate on Budget Vote: Economic Development and Tourism

Bosman Grobler MPL – Clean Audit does not equal good results

DA Spokesperson on Economic Development and Tourism

083 697 0747

See motion without notice – Mpumalanga Government must Support the work of our journalist

“No leniency for men who demand sex for jobs” – Mmusi Maimane

The following remarks were delivered in Nelspruit today by the Leader of the Democratic Alliance, Mmusi Maimane, when accompanied by two victims of the recent “sex for jobs” scandal in Mpumalanga to lay criminal charges against a government employee of the Mpumalanga Health Department who is the alleged perpetrator. The Leader was joined by DA Mpumalanga Provincial Leader, Jane Sithole

My fellow South Africans,

I speak to people every day about the challenges they face in this country. And in all these conversations – whether I’m in a city or a rural village, whether I’m speaking to men or women, young or old – there is one theme that is mentioned more than any other, and that is jobs.

More than crime and service delivery, more than access to education and healthcare, South Africans worry about getting a job. And they don’t just worry about the number of available jobs, they also worry about the way in which these jobs are allocated. They are frustrated by the unfairness of the system, and they are angry at the exploitation they often face.

It’s one thing when isolated people tell you about corruption, bribery and nepotism in the job application process, but when just about everyone has a similar story to tell, then you know you are dealing with a major problem.

Everywhere I go I hear the same stories: You can’t get a job unless you’re a family member or a friend; you can’t get a job unless you pay a bribe; you can’t get a job if you don’t have an ANC membership card. But surely the worst of these stories are the ones about the “carpet interviews”.

For those who don’t know, a carpet interview is when someone demands sex in exchange for a job. Or, in many cases, in exchange for the possibility of just being considered for a job. It has become such a common occurrence that this term – carpet interview – is known and used right across the country.

We discovered just how widespread this was when we took over the governments of Tshwane, Johannesburg and other municipalities. This is a national scourge and we must fight it wherever we see it.

We must also take away the power of those who prey on women in exchange for jobs by introducing transparency in the process and by doing away with executive decision-making. When it comes to EPWP jobs, the allocation must take place through a random lottery system.

We dare not downplay the seriousness of these offences. We’re talking about women who are so desperate to access a job that they’re forced to do anything to escape the unemployment trap. This is not consensual sex. This is coercion. The men that prey on these powerless women deserve the same treatment and scorn as any other rape and sexual assault offender.

And even though many women have told us about their experiences, we know the actual number is far higher than any recorded statistics. This is because many women carry with them feelings of shame and embarrassment, and cannot bring themselves to report their cases.

But some do. And here with us today are two such women who were both victims of the same perpetrator – a supervisor at the Rob Ferreira Hospital where the women applied for employment. He demanded sex from both women on numerous occasions in exchange for jobs that never materialised.

These women have now come forward to seek justice and to stop this man from targeting any further victims. Given their history with this man and the power imbalance in their relationship, this could not have been an easy decision. Even more disturbing was an SMS containing a death threat that was sent after the women reported the matter to the local media.

I applaud their bravery in standing up to this predator. I will accompany them today to the local police station where I will lay criminal charges against him. I have with me both their affidavits, and I have no doubt that these statements reveal criminal offences in terms of Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act as well as Section 1(b) of the Intimidation Act.

Next month is women’s month, and we will no doubt spend the month talking about the need to protect women from abuse and hardship. But the reality is that poverty and unemployment in our country still affect women – and particularly black women – more than any other group. And all around us, and working among us, are men who exploit them.

The only way we will combat the scourge of carpet interviews is if we deal swiftly and decisively with each and every perpetrator. We need to send a strong message to men who abuse their positions of power and take advantage of vulnerable women: Your days of getting away with these crimes are numbered.

We also need to send a message to women across the country who have been, or continue to be, victims of this exploitation: You are not alone. In the DA you have an ally you can count on if you choose to speak up and expose your perpetrator.

I know the desperation many South Africans feel when they cannot find work. I know how powerless they feel when they struggle to provide for their families. This is our single biggest challenge for the foreseeable future – to expand job opportunities and bring the 9.5 million unemployed South Africans into the economy.

Anyone who chooses to exploit this desperation by preying on women for sex has no place in the society we’re trying to build. We must show zero tolerance for this kind of abuse, and we must show no leniency at all for those found guilty.

Thank you.

If we want to stop drugs we need to protect our borders

The following remarks were delivered by the Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), Mmusi Maimane, at the Ramatlabama border control post today. The Leader was joined by the DA Shadow Minister of Police, Zakhele Mbhele MP, DA Constituency Head in Rustenberg, Herman Groenewald MP, DA Constituency Head in Moretele and Moses Kotane, Winston Rabotapi MP and DA Constituency Head in Naledi and Kagisano-Molopo, Sello Motswenyane.

My fellow South Africans

We chose to come here today to do this oversight visit, because the two local police stations here – Mahikeng and Mmabatho – have seen a 538% and 323% increase in drug crime over the last 10 years.

This is not just a crime statistic, it is a catastrophe of destroyed lives.

We cannot hope to build a stable and prosperous South Africa if we cannot keep our children safe. Any investment in our country must begin with them.

But when you look at the effects of drugs and drug-related crime in our communities, then we have to admit that we are failing to protect them.

This is a problem across the entire country, but I want to specifically point out the alarming rise in drug crimes here in this province. There are 84 police stations in the North West province, and almost all of them have reported a dramatic increase in drug-related crime over the past decade.

Province-wide, drug crime has risen by 108% since 2007, and these two local police stations – Mahikeng and Mmabatho – have shown a five-fold and three-fold increase respectively.

At the same time there have been various reports of cross-border drug trafficking. Two years ago a truck was searched at the Kopfontein border post near Zeerust after sniffer dogs reacted. Custom officials found almost one-and-a-half million mandrax tablets worth nearly R80 million in a hidden compartment. They arrested two people – one Tanzanian and one Zambian national.

One year earlier, 16 border police officers and three Home Affairs officials were arrested at the same border post for aiding smugglers and accepting bribes. You don’t have to be a detective to connect the dots.

Given the massive spike in drug-related crime in the North West, we have to ask ourselves: what else have we been missing here? It has long been known that the border between Botswana and South Africa is like a drug highway – both into and out of South Africa.

A big part of the problem is that our borders are so easy to cross illegally.

If we want to keep our children safe from drugs, then one of the first things we must do is to secure our borders.

South Africa has 53 land border crossings, and 15 of those are along the 1000km-long Botswana border. If we’re not sure who or what is entering our country through the many ports of entry, such as the border crossing here at Ramatlabama, then we cannot protect our children and our communities.

And it’s not only drug crime either. Stock theft, the movement of stolen vehicles and human trafficking happen far too easily across our borders.

Two years ago, during a routine check point right here in Mahikeng, police discovered 57 undocumented children in the back of an unventilated delivery truck from Malawi. These children were likely destined for child labour and prostitution, and thank goodness they were found. But how many have we missed?

We have to make it our priority to properly secure our borders and prevent illegal immigrants and goods from entering our country.

At the same time, we must also honour our legal and moral obligation to take in genuine refugees and asylum-seekers, and treat them with dignity. This starts here at the border post, but it includes every step of the journey, where vulnerable people who simply want to get themselves documented are still regularly exploited and abused by police members, Home Affairs staff and guards.

If we are to tackle the scourge of drug trafficking, human trafficking and all the other crimes committed across our borders, then we will have to urgently prioritise the following four things:

Firstly, we need to secure our borders and fix our fences. We must make it almost impossible for people to enter the country illegally. This includes rooting out corruption at our border posts and handing out harsh sentences for those found guilty.

Secondly, we must make a clear distinction between legal and illegal immigration. We must make the process for those who wish to enter legally clear and simple, and we must go out of our way to attract skilled workers. But those who cross our borders without permission must know that it is against the law, and that they will be stopped.

Third, we need to take stronger action against those who employ illegal immigrants.

And fourth, we must urgently address corruption, inefficiency and capacity constraints in the administration process for refugee or asylum seekers.

In addition to these four steps, we must also demand accountability from those entrusted to guard the entrances to our country – from the officers in charge of our border posts to the Ministers of Police and Home Affairs.

These cross-border crimes, and specifically the drug trade, are destroying the lives of thousands of our young people. As a country we need to say: No more.

Our government has a Constitutional duty to protect all its citizens. As a country we need to start holding them to account, or replacing them with one that is prepared to fulfil this duty.

Thank you.

Maimane calls on Hawks to deepen probe into ANC corruption at Vrede Dairy Farm

I have today written to the new National Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks), Adv Godfrey Lebeya, requesting a formal meeting to discuss the ongoing investigation into the Free State Government’s now infamous Estina Dairy Farm project in Vrede.

Yesterday, the Minister of Police confirmed in a written parliamentary question that the investigation into the Estina Dairy Farm Project is still on-going, and that the investigation would be submitted to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) once finalised. I would like to therefore seek clarity on a number of matters from the Hawks, most importantly the progress on investigating the political appointees who were involved in the project. This includes the former Free State Premier and now Secretary-General of the ANC, Ace Magashule, and former Free State MEC for Agriculture, Mosebenzi Zwane.

These individuals abused their roles as public servants, and instead served the interests of ANC-connected crooks. To this point, it appears that the political masterminds behind the fraudulent scam have been let off the hook. This cannot be tolerated.

In August last year, I hand delivered a legal indictment to the Hawks Office, containing over 200 pages of prima facie evidence showing that Mosebenzi Zwane and members of the Gupta family, through an intricate web of companies and actors, stole almost R200 million of public funds which ended up paying for a Gupta family wedding at Sun City in 2013.

This indictment provides concrete evidence which outlines in detail how money was stolen from the intended beneficiaries and provides sufficient evidence to support the criminal charges laid against several members of the Gupta family, their associates, and Zwane in July 2017 by DA Shadow Minister of Finance, David Maynier MP. These charges include money laundering, racketeering, assisting another to benefit from the proceeds of unlawful activities, and acquiring, possessing or using the proceeds of unlawful activities in terms of the Prevention of Organized Crime Act 121 of 1998.

I would therefore like to discuss this matter with Adv. Lebeya, in order to understand the current status of the investigation, its projected timeline, the inclusion of the political principals, and the contents of the legal indictment I provided to the Hawks last year.

What makes the matter of utmost importance is that to date, none of the political principals involved have been held to account. The Public Protector’s report into this matter absolves the very individuals who designed and orchestrated this R220 million scandal. The DA has taken the report on legal review on this very point, as we believe it to be a “whitewash”.

South Africans need to be assured that those politicians who orchestrate the theft of public money are investigated and held to account, and the Hawks is the very body tasked with combatting, investigating and preventing grand scale corruption such as what we’ve seen unfold in Vrede.

Re-imagining South Africa must be a collective effort

The following keynote speech was delivered today by DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane, at the South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) Annual Convention in Durban, KwaZulu Natal.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

It is an honour for me to stand here this morning on a stage that so many great speakers and thinkers have held before me.

This annual convention of the South African Property Owners Association has become an important date in our country’s calendar. It gathers an incredible number of influential people who are deeply committed to the South African project. It focuses thought and it seeks to find answers, primarily relating to the property sector, but also for a much wider application in our country.

So thank you for inviting me here today to speak to you about our incredible country – about some of the challenges we face as a nation, but also about solutions. Because that’s ultimately why we do what we do. That’s why the DA exists, and that’s why I serve my country through my party.

I have a vision for South Africa. But it is a vision that will require meaningful political and economic reform.

If we want to succeed in this multi-ethnic democracy, then we are going to have to move away from the politics of identity. We will need a political system in which people express their hopes and ideals rather than their race. And to do this we will have to start focusing on the things that unite us rather than that which divides us.

I believe the DA has workable solutions to the challenges our country faces, and our mission is to invite South Africans to join us in applying these solutions, sometimes improving upon them or even replacing them with better ideas. We believe the answers to the many problems we face will come from a broad partnership that includes multiple political parties, the business community, civil society, the education sector, religious bodies and activist citizens.

Importantly, we believe that the only way to solve our problems is for us to unite as a country. Right now there are many who want to take us back to a place we must never return to. They want to divide us by race once more. They want us to mistrust each other, blame each other, target each other. They do this not because they genuinely believe we should hate one another, but because it is their strategy to retain power.

But that’s not the future of our country. We’re not destined to grow apart again. We are meant to be one nation with one common future. I am convinced the overwhelming majority of South Africans believe this too, and will ultimately see through the populist rhetoric and racial nationalism that seems to dominate our conversations these days.

But I also know we will not build this country through platitudes and rhetoric. Any talk of resurrecting our rainbow nation has to be backed up by a solid, workable plan to meet our biggest challenge head-on. And that challenge is the economic exclusion of millions and millions of our people.

There are many aspects to this challenge. There are many factors that contribute to people being shut out of the economy. But the simple reality is that if we don’t find a way to open new opportunities for a third of our working-age population, we can forget about reconciliation, we can forget about building a nation with a shared identity and we can forget about re-establishing South Africa to its rightful place on the continent and in the world.

Twenty-four years into our democracy, the people no longer care for feel-good stories and promises of a better tomorrow. They are fast running out of hope. They need to see a change in their prospects, and they need to see it soon. But we will not see real change in our society without sweeping economic reform.

I’m sure you know all the numbers by now. You see the same Stats SA reports as I do. You read the same Labour Force surveys as I do.

The generous definition of unemployment says that 27% of our people can’t find work. But horrific as that is, the reality is actually a good deal worse. Because once you include what the statisticians call “discouraged jobseekers” – those who haven’t actively sought employment for several months – then that number shoots up to 37% of our working age population.

And most of these are young people. If you are under the age of 24, you have a two in three chance of being unemployed. There’s no other country in the world with this kind of youth unemployment rate. I don’t need to explain to you just how serious a threat this poses for the future of our country.

Already 55% our population live below the poverty line. At the rate at which young, poorly skilled people are leaving school, looking to enter a stagnant economy that is struggling to add new jobs, this percentage will not come down any time soon.

Along with this economic hardship comes social upheaval and the constant threat of violence. Protests have become a daily occurrence, crime is never far away in any community and political violence, like the killings in KZN, is threatening the stability of our country.

So where do we begin?

At the very highest level, government must understand its role in stimulating growth. And more often than not, this role is to step aside and let those in the business of growth do the hard lifting. Make it possible for the private sector to do what it does best, which is to run successful businesses of all shapes and sizes that can absorb workers at a far greater rate than anything we’ve seen in recent years. And at a far greater rate than anything government can provide.

Yes, the State still has a part to play as a provider of jobs, but often this should be as an employer of last resort. The notion that the State must grow our economy, control every sector and create every job is a relic of the past. We cannot cling to this outdated ideology any longer, because it will drag our country further and further down. We need to turn around and face the future.

The best contribution a government can make to growth and job creation – and this is something DA governments have learnt and implemented in both the Western Cape and the City of Cape Town over the past decade – is often simply to clear away obstacles.

Streamlining bureaucracy, reducing red tape, paying suppliers on time, supporting small businesses and new entrepreneurs, providing the infrastructure businesses need, ensuring as far as possible an uninterrupted supply of electricity – these are the things that inspire confidence and attract investment. The State also has a role to play in assisting new black entrepreneurs through access to start-up capital – what I call a Jobs & Justice Fund. These are the areas where government can make a difference.

Along with this shift from a State-led to a State-enabled economy, we must also look carefully and critically at every policy and piece of legislation – current and proposed – that might play a role in attracting or deterring investment. If we want to let the world know that we are open for business, then we have to walk the talk. Our current BEE model is an investment repellent. Our current labour legislation is an investment repellent. The mining charter is an investment repellent. And any talk of expropriating privately owned property without compensation is a massive investment repellent.

Investors make rational, unemotional decisions. When it comes to competing for their business, we’re playing in the same pool as every other country. If we still harbour any notions of a South African exceptionalism, then we must quickly learn to get over it. The world doesn’t care much for our back story and our special circumstances. If we can’t compete, then we will sink. It’s that simple.

There are many other things national government can and must do if we are to turn our economy around. This includes living within its means. We must urgently reduce not only the size of our massively bloated administration, but also our ballooning public sector wage bill. We must dramatically reduce irregular and wasteful expenditure, and we must come down hard on corruption in both the public and private sectors. Zero tolerance for waste and zero tolerance for theft is the only way forward.

We must clean up, and in some cases, clear out, our struggling State Owned Enterprises. Long after the Guptas and their lackeys have left the buildings, our SEOs – and particularly Eskom – will continue to haemorrhage money and cost taxpayers billions if we don’t make fundamental changes to the way they operate.

But if we are to do any of these things – if we want a clean, corruption-free administration, if we want to run efficient, business-friendly government departments, if we are to operate lean, successful SOE’s, then we have to appoint only the best, fit-for-purpose individuals to head up these bodies. As a country, we must walk away from the disastrous policy of cadre deployment – of rewarding unsuitable, unqualified or compromised people simply for their loyalty to a political faction.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We also need to recognise where our country’s potential for growth and development lies, and then direct the bulk of our resources there. If the past two decades have taught us anything, it’s that national government is particularly inefficient at unlocking this potential and spending our budget wisely.

Our cities, on the other hand, have the ability to kick-start our economy – and this is something we’re seeing across the globe. Not only are local governments far closer to the people they serve, and therefore more accountable and responsive, they also are in a better position to identify where and when to invest in crucial infrastructure projects.

One only need look at the recent successes of the City of Cape Town, both in terms of jobs created and new investments attracted, to see the benefit of an obsessive focus on improving the ease of doing business in the metro. Now, I know the city is not perfect either. I’m not going to try to convince people who are often frustrated by red tape and slow bureaucracy that the City of Cape Town is beyond reproach. I know there is still much that can be improved upon. But I also know they have been moving in the right direction for over a decade now, and it shows.

We need to empower our cities with both the mandate and the budget to spearhead our turnaround. But even such a shift to city-led growth will be futile if we continue to sabotage our economic recovery with populist rhetoric around land expropriation.

I know, for most of you, the debate around expropriation without compensation is the biggest issue facing the sector you operate in. I’m sure you are sitting here in this session today to hear my views, and the position of my party, on land. So I will say the same thing to you here as I have said in countless interviews, press conferences and opinion pieces since this debate began. Because unlike the ANC, who have flip-flopped on land from week to week, or the EFF who write one thing in their policy but say another to their supporters, the DA has been consistent, clear and unambiguous on this issue from the start:

The DA believes that land reform must be dramatically sped-up and expanded, and we also believe that this can and must be done within the framework of our Constitution and the protection it offers to property rights.

Those who claim this can’t be done are not being honest with you. If the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform had been properly funded, if corruption within the Department had been addressed, and if there existed the political will to make poor black South Africans land owners with title deed, then this could have been done. And if we had done this for the past two and a half decades, then land ownership in South Africa would have looked far different to the picture we see today.

Instead our government spends as much on its own VIP protection and security as it allocates to land reform. That says all you need to know about where the problem lies. To now scapegoat our Constitution for the failure to return land to the people is nothing but a last-ditch populist ploy to cover for 24 years of failed land reform. The Constitution makes sufficient provision for acquiring land for redistribution. All we now need is a government willing to test these provisions.

But what we can’t do is threaten the rights of those who own property, both current and in the future. Dispossession was a cornerstone of the Apartheid plan to subjugate the majority of our people. And once you start down this road, there is no telling where it will end or who it will target. It is inconceivable that we are prepared to meddle with this once more.

But equally important, property rights are the very foundation of our economy and enjoy protection in our Constitution for that reason. Without securing these rights, we will lose whatever slim competitive edge we might still enjoy as an investment destination. We could not pick a worse way to shoot our economy in the foot. And it is not the wealthy and the middle class who will suffer. It is poor, black South Africans desperate for work who will feel it the worst when investors pull the plug here.

If we want to empower poor South Africans, then we must extend property ownership to as many people as we can, and then protect their right to own this property through our Constitution. Title deed to a piece of land, no matter where and no matter how small, can be the key to financial independence. It can unlock capital for an entrepreneur. It can build a nest-egg for retirement. It can be passed on as an inheritance and provide the foot-up in life that so many young black families still don’t enjoy.

We need to speed this up in rural areas as well as in urban areas. We have to look at ways to empower farm workers as well as emerging black farmers, and we need to be creative and bold in our thinking. In the Western Cape the equity share schemes employed on many farms have given workers a real stake in the land they live and work on.

But it is in our towns and cities that we can really accelerate ownership through the transfer of title deeds. The DA has already made nearly 100,000 South Africans home owners in the City of Cape Town and the three other metros that now also have DA-led governments. And we are working hard at clearing backlogs and transferring even more title deeds.

I know it is not a simple undertaking, and that it’s often fraught with unforeseen complexities. As Helen Zille pointed out in a recent opinion piece on the Joe Slovo settlement upgrade in Cape Town, the loopholes that desperate people exploit in order to jump the housing queue can paralyse the process of building houses and transferring them to their rightful owners. But she also points out that the solution lies in not necessarily trying to implement a flawed national housing policy better, but rather in finding better solutions to providing low and middle income housing.

Many of these potential solutions lie in a partnership between government and the private sector – in providing subsidised housing that is affordable rather than free, or providing serviced sites and assistance for people to build their own homes.

There is not one single solution to our housing challenge. There will be many different solutions to address the needs of the indigent, the low-income families and, importantly, the many households that earn too much for a free home but too little to afford their own. I don’t know what all these solutions are, but I do know that many of you here in this room have thought about this long and hard, and have excellent ideas. And that’s why we must build strong partnerships.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We have come a long way as a country these past two and a half decades. But I don’t have to tell you that we still have much further to go. Every city and every town in this country still bears the scars of our past. Apartheid spatial planning still defines our society, like a permanent tattoo on our landscape. We still live, to a large extent, as a divided nation, and poor black South Africans still suffer because of this.

That’s our big challenge – to transform our towns and our cities into inclusive spaces, to bring poor people closer to work opportunities and to provide a wide range of housing solutions in well-located areas.

It’s a challenge that every country in the world has to grapple with. But, given our history and given the two worlds we have inherited, ours is just that much more difficult. And that’s why we need everyone on board. We can’t afford to turn against each other now, whether that’s race against race, or business against government. Our only hope of rebuilding South Africa is if we do so as a united team.

One nation with one future.

Thank you.

The young people at Fort Hare are ready to embrace a new future

The following speech was delivered today by DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane, at the DA’s Youth Day Rally at Fort Hare University in Alice, Eastern Cape. Maimane was joined by DA Eastern Cape Provincial Leader, Nqaba Bhanga, DA Youth Federal Leader, Luyolo Mphithi, DA Students Organisation (DASO) Constituency Head for Eastern Cape and MP, Hlomela Bucwa, DAY EC Chairperson, Mawethu Kosani and DASO UFH President Xolani Jaji.

My fellow South Africans,

It is an honour for me to address you here on Youth Day at Fort Hare University. This institution has played a significant role in the history of our country. For over a hundred years, Fort Hare has stood at the forefront of social and political change in South Africa.

Some of our country’s greatest leaders and stalwarts of the struggle passed through here. People like Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. There is a rich history of black leadership that can trace its academic and intellectual roots all the way back here to Alice.

And last month’s SRC election proved that Fort Hare is still at the forefront of change and progress in our society. Because, in electing a DASO-led SRC, the students here have shown that they are prepared to take a bold new step towards a future not necessarily dominated by the ANC.

This university – and particularly this campus in Alice – has always been an ANC stronghold. This has always been their intellectual home. For the students of this campus to turn their backs on the ANC and SASCO, is a significant development.

They have shown that they can break with tradition in the interest of progress. They have shown that if the party of their parents and the party of the struggle is no longer relevant to them, then they are willing to seek out a party that is concerned about the issues that are important to them.

Many of the students here at Fort Hare don’t have it easy. Many of them come from poor households, many fought a hard battle to get here. And once here, life doesn’t get any easier. Accommodation is often overpriced and sub-standard. Funding for fees is insufficient. Then there’s books and stationery and a host of other crippling costs. It all adds up.

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme has just admitted that more than 120,000 students nationwide have been affected by delays in the payment of their allowances. This is money these students desperately need for food, accommodation and other expenses on campus. Most of them have no other safety net to rely on. Most of them are affected by intergenerational poverty – a cycle that is very hard to break.

If you’re a student facing these hardships, then you will want people on your SRC who will stand up for you. You will gravitate towards those who speak of the things that affect you, and who then go beyond speaking and actually fight on your behalf. That’s what happened here in Alice. A significant majority recognised that there is only one student organisation on this campus that truly fights for the students.

We have seen DASO victories on campuses elsewhere in South Africa too, but this one here is particularly significant given the history of this place. This is a shift in momentum that cannot be ignored.

What happened here on this campus is a reflection of what is happening in our country as a whole. As our democracy matures, our political landscape is changing. South Africans are slowly moving away from the idea that their vote should be tied to their identity. There is a growing realisation that the only deciding factor when casting your vote should be the ideas of the parties involved – their vision for the future of our country, their policies through which they hope to achieve this vision, and the values that underpin their offer.

This shift is desperately needed in our country right now. We need a fresh start, and we need it soon, because life is hard for the millions of people who find themselves locked out of our economy.

And this is particularly true for young South Africans. Even the lucky few who make it to university and leave here with a degree will find it harder and harder to break into the economy as opportunities dry up.

Right now there are almost 9.5 million South Africans who cannot find work. For those under the age of 24, there is a two in three chance of being unemployed. That’s our ticking time bomb. We cannot even think of building a prosperous country if we don’t have a plan to bring our young people into the economy.

Yes, we need them to find employment. But we also need them to become employers. We need to foster a culture of entrepreneurship, and then do all we can to ensure that our young entrepreneurs succeed. Not just for their sake, but for the sake of our country. Our collective future depends on it.

We must accept that not everyone leaving school will qualify for higher education, and so our plan must include a range of options for everyone. We must dramatically expand internships and apprenticeships for school-leavers. But we must go beyond that and consider solutions like a year of national youth civilian service. Anything to enable young people to get a foot on the jobs ladder.

Opening opportunities for young South Africans must be our obsessive focus. Ours must be a cradle-to-career plan that includes improving our early childhood development centres, fixing our failing basic education system and expanding access to tertiary education, with a truly progressive funding model where the poor are subsidised but those who can afford to pay do so.

As we reflect today on the sacrifices made by our youth in the history of our country, let us also look to the future and ask what role our youth should play in building a country that works for all.

And when I see what the students here at Fort Hare have done, I am filled with optimism. Because if they can break from history and place their trust in an SRC that speaks for them, then there is no reason why the rest of the country can’t do the same with their government.

DA-led Western Cape has created 487 000 jobs

The Lansdowne Bottling Company (LBC) that I visited today is not simply a bottling company. It is an institution in Cape Town that continues to be successfully owned and managed by the Patel family who founded the company 84 years ago.  The Patel family’s bottling operation can be traced from the origin of their Marshall Bros product in 1934 District Six to its Salt River expansion and eventual acquisition of the over 20 000 square metre plant bottling its signature “Double O” and “Co-ee” soft drinks in Lansdowne.

This company has played a leading role in the DA-led Western Cape government’s “Energy Security Game Changer” which aims to bring down the demand for energy by the industrial sector in the province by 10% by 2020. By going green they have joined many other businesses in benefitting from the DA-led City of Cape Town’s Renewable Energy Feed In Tariff (REFIT) programme.

The company’s decision to implement a 260KW solar system in 2015 has seen them become less reliant on Eskom and lowered their cost of energy. These savings have allowed LBC to focus on their core business, growing it exponentially and creating new jobs. In this time, they’ve expanded to a work force of 85 employees. They’ve now achieved green building status, and by encouraging others to embrace solar, there are now more renewable energy companies and many more new jobs in this growing green energy industry that is forecast to be worth R75 billion in the province by 2035.

And even after the worst drought in recorded history, the Western Cape continues to see the highest year-on-year employment increase over the past year with 123 000 nett new jobs created. Which is 75% of all jobs created in the entire country in the past year.

Since 2009 when the DA was elected in the Western Cape, 487 000 nett new jobs have been created by the DA-led Western Cape government. That is why unemployment in the Western Cape is the lowest in the country, and that is why only 1% of unemployed people in the province are “discouraged” work seekers who have given up looking for work. People who live in DA-governments know that there is more hope of finding work, and more opportunity for work for everyone.

This is the best demonstration of what the DA will do if elected to govern in other provinces. By governing well and attracting investment, the economy grows and hundreds of thousands of new jobs are created. In the 9 years we have governed the Western Cape, we have expanded opportunity to more than half a million people who were previously excluded from the economy.

The DA’s fight will always be for the 9.5 million people who do not have jobs or have given up looking for jobs in South Africa. The 487 000 people who now have jobs in the Western Cape are testament to this commitment to put the people of South Africa first.