MESSAGE FROM THE PATRIOTIC ALLIANCE PRESIDENT

In 2020, the Patriotic Alliance (PA) was the first party to use the slogan "2024 is our 1994'; which many other parties have unsurprisingly copied since then. That is because this election year promises to change our beloved South Africa in a way we haven't seen since the landmark first democratic elections in 1994.

The South African people have waited long enough to live in a South Africa that finally lives up to its true potential as a peaceful, thriving home for all its citizens.

It is easy in an election manifesto document to repeat the same obvious things that political parties have been saying for decade after decade, but without implementing the true, lasting change we as citizens have been living in hope for every day during these difficult and frustrating past 30 years.

We often hear the South African government and the ruling party talking about how we are a "young democracy'; but the real question is, when will we finally start growing up? Countries like Japan decided a century ago to make the big leap to becoming a fully industrialised society with a First World approach and living standard, and it took them just 10 years to get there. China, which is much bigger and with a far greater population, has been repeating the same feat on a scale that is astounding.

THE TIME FOR EXCUSES IS OVER. WE NEED DELIVERY.

Every year we are given the same excuses for why uplifting the majority of our people out of the quagmire of joblessness and poverty is so difficult.

If those we have entrusted to do the job for so long can't succeed at it, then they should just do the right thing and step aside for those of us who don't want to make excuses, and want to get the job done. If they are too old, too tired and worn out by the scale of the task, then they should concede that others have the necessary energy, spirit and vision to take forward the democratic project of turning South Africa into the greatest country in the world.

Sadly, those we have been entrusting with this Godly task have been lured into the cozy trap of padding their own nests and propping up their own lifestyles with easy money siphoned from public coffers, while endlessly repeating hollow and aging slogans about that "better life for all" that we have been waiting for, until death.

We in the PA have worked with a single-minded vision since the founding of the Patriotic Alliance in 2013 to build this party into what it has become and continues to become: a place for true patriots to be the change they want to see in South Africa, under the hand of a merciful God.

PATRIOTS, WE ARE ON THE VERGE OF GREATNESS, IN THE SHADOW OF THE UNION BUILDINGS.

In 2022, when I took on the task of becoming the executive mayor of the Central Karoo District Municipality the main reason for that was so that I could experience first-hand what it is like to lead a government politically.

It's well known by now that while I was the mayor I donated my salary to the community and did not use the mayoral vehicle, bodyguards, travel allowances, credit card and other perks of being an executive mayor.

Because the municipality was so broke, I had to privately raise the millions needed to bring change to the lives of the Karoo's most poverty-stricken. That allowed me to keep to my promise of replacing all the bucket toilets in the Karoo with flushing toilets, restoring the district's dysfunctional pools to working order and supplying clean drinking water to the residents of Leeu-Gamka. We also entered into an innovative agreement with Transnet to make industrial and retail space available to entrepreneurs to stimulate business and employment.

What was important to me was to eradicate the bucket toilet system and fix two of the biggest pools within my first 100 days, to prove that we don't need years and decades to get important things done. Politicians had been promising decent sanitation for nearly 30 years, just like they have been promising to defeat crime, get rid of slums, create jobs and stimulate the economy.

We don't need another 30 years to fix South Africa. We need political will and state officials who serve the true needs of the people, not narrow corrupt interests.

I drew so many lessons from my experience as a mayor, especially when it came to successfully managing a coalition government. One of the biggest, lasting lessons for me, though, is that state officials truly do not care to spend our money carefully and in the public interest. If given a chance, they would spend Rl million on a single paper clip and split the money among all their cronies, while the actual maker of the paper clip might be lucky to get a fraction of a cent. We have become a government of"consultants';"experts'; "advisers'; "planners'; "designers" and whatever else, when all that it really boils down to is that billions - endless billions - disappear into a black hole.

When I told the Central Karoo administration I wanted to put flushing toilets into homes with bucket toilets, they quickly spent hundreds of thousands that we didn't have - and without my permission - on plans and designs for toilets, as though no one already knows what a toilet looks like or how it works.

When I was the mayor, they were dismissed and I would have jailed them if I'd been able to.

I cannot wait to march into power as the provincial premier of the Western Cape to bring long-awaited change on a larger scale. I am also raising my hand to lead the country as its first coalition president.

This year, vote PA to allow us to truly be The Last Hope for South Africa.

Signed

Gayton McKenzie

Patriotic Alliance President

A TURNAROUND PLAN FOR SOUTH AFRICA

It is clear that the current political establishment lacks an understanding of turnaround strategies, when comparing both new and established political players.

South Africa urgently needs a turnaround, and what is required is a specialist capable of effecting this change. None of the existing manifestos offer a clear vision of how they intend to transform the country in the five years granted by voters.

The PA's premise is that South Africa needs a practical, implementable turnaround strategy, rather than more empty and pious policy. This approach enables South Africans to vote for a party committed to steering the country away from the brink of collapse.

Our cabinet will be comprised of experts in their fields. If they cannot be found in the PA, we will recruit the best from other parties or from other sectors of South African society. We will even recruit South Africans now living in other countries ifwe have to, but we will have only the best.

Countries require strong leadership in order to develop and thrive. The Patriotic Alliance offers this leadership and has distinguished itself by promoting six key policy cornerstones, which are discussed below as core manifesto points for the upcoming elections.

1. THE PA PLACES GOD FIRST

The PA believes that as a society we have strayed from our moral path of knowing our place in the universe in a spirit of humility and respect for the natural order. That order places God, the Creator, at the centre of life, instead of people alone. People are imperfect, whereas God represents perfection and the pursuit of higher ideals and subservience to a higher power.

This attitude leaves citizens in awe of God's purpose and approaching life humbly and in a spirit of service. This is the golden thread through all the world's major religions

- that one must love one another and serve one another selflessly.

South Africa has descended into the chaos of self-seeking enrichment with no fear of consequence. This is an ungodly state and it needs to change. Nothing else will save us now.

Religious principles need to be reintroduced to the education system, which is producing children who have forgotten the Ten Commandments, including honouring and obeying one's mother and father so that you can live a long and full life. We have turned our collective face away from God, and therefore cannot be surprised when God turns from us and we now suffer every social ill imaginable.

2. ZERO TOLERANCE FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

The PA will ensure illegal migrants are sent home and not allowed to return. The party, while in government, will build a wall to protect its citizens against illegal migration.

South Africa faces a migration crisis and illegal migrants must be mass deported. Human rights should not mean that citizenship rights and responsibilities are completely ignored. A person within South Africa's borders who did not cross the border legally is a criminal, and needs to be treated as such. As a consequence, South Africa will need mass detention camps to which illegal foreigners must be taken for processing and deportation.

We will perform audits on any foreigner who claims to have papers. Businesses who hire illegal foreigners will be severely punished forthis opportunism.

As long as illegal foreigners are accorded the rights of citizenship as guaranteed by the Constitution, we have effectively betrayed our Constitution, which was not written as a governing document for all 8 billion people on Earth but rather for the citizens of South Africa who have waited for generations for freedom, and continue to wait.

As a first principle, the attractiveness of South Africa as a destination for illegal migration must be vastly diminished. Currently, illegal migrants are effectively rewarded for breaking the law since they are able to seek work and other opportunities, including for education, healthcare and other social services, while they are here. Anyone who has been deported and is found to have entered the country illegally again will face lengthy prison sentences. They have explored every possible way of perverting government's systems, which is why so many illegal foreigners end up benefiting from programmes that are meant to be reserved for South Africans, such as free and subsidised housing and social grants.

It is an established fact that it is primarily illegal immigrants involved in profoundly damaging activities such as illegal mining, which is hollowing out our towns and cities from underourfeet,and zama zamas are now as well armed as a private army, funded by our mineral wealth, which is meant to be owned by us as citizens and which should be funding our own sovereign wealth fund. Illegal migrants are stealing our children's future, literally.

It is also notoriouslydifficultto police and prosecute illegal immigrants since they lack formal identity.

The powers and obligations of Home Affairs must be vastly strengthened and expanded to afford Immigration Officers the rights and duties to deport the millions of illegal migrants that are busy choking South Africa from its poorest fringes inwards.

As the PA we do not wish to hear of illegal migrants' human rights. What about the right of citizenship of South Africans?That is who is voting for change and that is who we are fighting for.

3. MILITARY SERVICE

Youths who do not find themselves in education or employment after school shall have to join the military or enlist in equivalent avenues of public service.

In the military, they will learn discipline as well as a wide range of skills that can either set them up for lifelong careers in the military or make them more marketable for jobs in society.

Most importantly, an expanded military will secure the country's borders and prevent the constant seepage of deported illegal migrants merely re-entering the country. Military servicemen and women will also support Home Affairs in the mammoth task of mass deportation.

South Africa all too often is not able to contribute effectively to peacekeeping efforts in Africa, but South Africa has increasingly come to play a leading role at the African Union. The days of relying on the UN to do the hard work in Africa must end and a well-trained, energetic and youthful military will go a long way towards creating more stability and the growth of democracy on the continent.

A stable Africa will help to grow the continental economy, along with South Africa's economy by extension, and a disciplined military force will secure regional sovereignty and reduce Africa's dependence on (or inability to resist) outside influence. The positive dividend from military service should be able to more than fund its cost.

4. RETURN OF THE DEATH PENALTY

A PA government will reintroduce the death penalty in severe cases of murder where guilt has been proven beyond any reasonable doubt.This action needs to serve as a"line in the sand" against a society that has lost the war against violent crime. We cannot accept it any more.

Reinstating the death penalty for the most heinous murderers will send the message that South Africa actually values the constitutional right to life of such killers' victims more highly than that of anyone who commits these crimes, often without remorse.

In a society with more than 20,000 murders per year, there are numerous cases of killers who have murdered repeatedly and whose guilt is, effectively, beyond any doubt. They are capable of killing again and, if they do, the state continues to fail its most vulnerable.

Put simply, an executed murderer will never murder again.

This policy also sends the much-needed message that South Africa will finally be tough on crime of all kinds, once and for all, but particularly on violent crime.

It is also known that so-called blood feuds between gangs and gang leaders are driven by the need for personal vengeance in the face of a state that has abandoned responsibility.The death penalty will therefore send the message that the state remains the ultimate authority.

The death penalty currently already exists in South Africa, but only for innocent victims, the people who have been abandoned by the justice system.

5. ELEVATE ROYAL AND LOCAL LEADERS

The PA recognises the simple fact that the most direct way to change someone's life is to improve their immediate community. The Constitution and the laws that followed it have not defined the role of royal leaders practically and we need to strengthen and elevate the role of royal and local leaders. We must revisit the role of royal leaders within municipal structures, so the important role they play in stabilising rural communities is recognised instead of being cynically exploited by politicians, as has been the case for decades.

Royal leaders and their communities must benefit as a matter of law when mining or any extractive industries take place on their land.They must be assisted with resources to aid their agricultural development. Royal leaders must be part of the development and rolloutof any plans to develop their communities.

The role of traditional courts should be strengthened, with resources invested in this, since this plays an important role in keeping order in rural areas according to traditional cultural practices. This reinforces family values and social cohesion.

The PA advocates for more financial support to local leadership at all levels, including recognised churches as organisations that have long played a central role in unifying communities, promoting positive values and doing charitable work and supporting the indigent. These organisations can play a central role, along with other NGOs, in setting up and running shelters for the homeless as well as drug rehab centres.

It is also essential that community halls and sport fields be built, upgraded and equipped as state-of-the-art facilities, including AV systems, so that the youth and community have safe, world-class spaces to commune.

The PA will support policies that contribute to our rich heritage culture and will financially assist our diverse heritage culture groups such as the Malay and Minstrel Carnivals (commonly known as the Kaapse-Klopse), along with a wide range of rich and diverse cultural groups that contribute to the melting pot that is South Africa.

The PA undertakes to fund and preserve cultural heritage events.

6. BENEFICIATION

South Africa has been blessed with an abundance of natural resources. Mining companies have been allowed to engage in "transfer invoicing" for decades, effectively stealing untold hundreds of billions in tax revenue from the people. This money would have long eradicated poverty in the country, resulting in millions of jobs flowing from the modernisation and industrialisation of the country.

When we speak of beneficiating natural resources, this is a rallying cry for both the industrialisation and reindustrialisation of the country.

Mining has been the main driving force behind the history and development of South Africa. Despite declines in the gold mining industry, South Africa is still one of the world's leading mining and mineral-processing countries.

The PA wants future boom industries such as fracking to be central to industrial renewal, without overlooking other opportunities in less obvious sectors such as fish farming and aquaculture, modernised approaches to farming and more.

Building competitive, integrated industries that create products for domestic use and export will be the surest sign that South Africa is working and that the future is bright.

For this policy cornerstone to be successful, load shedding would have to end, transport networks would have to be restored and expanded - from roads to rail to ports and airports - and the education system would have to produce graduates who are ready for the modern workplace.

South Africa would also have to be seen as a safe place to work and raise a family free of the shackles of past injustice and resentment.

These are all outcomes a PA government will pursue practically and as efficiently as possible.This cornerstone therefore leads into the more general discussion points below, which serve to enhance the above six non­ negotiable manifesto points that the PA is offering the electorate.

BROADER MANIFESTO DISCUSSION POINTS

1.        CRIME

The PA's president is the only candidate who is serious about combating crime. He is not some liberal virtue signaller who thinks he is working with a regular case of the breakdown of law and order.

The PA is going to model its strategy on what President Nayib Bukele from El Salvador has done in his country.

We shall arrest all the gang members ruling the streets and the mafia ruling the state enterprises. We will put them in jail first and then bring charges later. We know this will not sit well with many liberals, but as people who have suffered personally from violence and who represent people who suffer with violence and death every day of their lives, this is the policy we are going to pursue.

We will bring back the death penalty for certain classes of offences. These sentences will only be carried out for cases in which there is direct, and not circumstantial, evidence in the below categories:

Murder, but particularly the murders of women by men

Muti killings

The rape of children

Murders committed in jail

Acts of corruption that can be categorised as forms of high treason

IMPROVE PROFESSIONALISM AND DETECTION SERVICES

The fact that only 15% of murders in South Africa are ever solved points to an alarming deficit in forensic detective capacity, requiring wholesale investment in further professionalising the police service at all levels, since strong police work is the outcome of a well-functioning system, as well as the work of experienced, intelligent, dedicated individuals who are determined to find the truth, build watertight cases against suspects and close cases.

It will be important to bring back dedicated units with specialised officers and detectives who develop experience in dealing with specific kinds of crime. For example, the establishment and bolstering of a missing children's unit, missing persons unit, sexual offences unit, and more, will be a necessity. A well-funded missing children's unit will be the first priority, however, due to the high prevalence of this problem.

It is important that the police get back to working more closely with the public to make the public a partner in fighting crime. Shows like Police File in the past were highly effective at making the public the eyes and ears of finding and apprehending criminals, and this needs to make a comeback.

While the USA was complaining in 2020 that only half of all their murder cases were being solved, in the UK it has often been as high as 90%.This points to the factthat it is not only possible to obtain successful convictions in murder cases, it is imperative that this is achieved if South Africa is to have any sustainable chance at lowering its murder rate, which stood at 42 murders per 100,000 in 2022. South Africa still solves far more murders in absolute terms than the UK, owing to the sheer volume of murders committed, at nearly 40 times more.

South Africa urgently needs investment in state-of-the-art forensic science and equipment, along with specialists trained in building cases using DNA and other forms of forensic evidence, with the throughput rate at laboratories requiring urgent upgrading. In line with this, police dockets must be managed electronically in future and secured through a blockchain system to ensure that all cases lodged with the police service are investigated thoroughly to their conclusion.

The rape of women is a vile pandemic in South Africa. The PA will be much harder on deterring rape through the justice system. Rape courts must be established with specialists who understand the sensitive nature of such crimes, and who get watertight results to prosecute offenders and thus raise deterrence.

REHABILITATION

The prison system must also urgently be reformed to focus on rehabilitation. South Africa stands relatively unique in the world for not allowing conjugal rights, which the PA will introduce. This will fight male rape in prisons and can function as a reward system for good behaviour and keep families together so that relationships do not simply fall apart because of long prison sentences.

Prisoners must be put to work as part of repaying their debt to society and as a way of building a savings purse that can be used to assist them upon their release.

FIGHTING CORRUPTION

Police officers who excel in the line of duty can be rewarded, while those who do not should face appropriate censure. The PA accepts that a vast body of research has been conducted into how to minimise corruption in the police force and elsewhere in society. We need to start applying these lessons.

The PA will promote a culture of transparency within the police force, so that all police officers would have to be subjected to random integrity tests, such as those that are common in the New York Police Department, of such a nature that no officer will ever be able to know if and when they are being tested. This has proven to be part of the effective long-term strategy that is needed to build a service of police officers who are professional and uphold the law at all times.

Serious policing failures such as the sheer volume of service firearms that are "lost" every year need to be treated with the censure they deserve. Such weapons invariably end up in the hands of criminals, often with officers selling them, and end up causing the deaths of innocents, particularly children.

ACORRUPTION-FREEGOVERNMENT

For the PA's proposed system of administration to be effective, government corruption - which is in and of itself one of the most severe forms of crime in the country that steals directly from the poor- must come to an end.

GOVERNMENT WILL UNDERTAKE AN IMMEDIATE AUDIT OF THE CIVIL SERVICE TO PINPOINT CORRUPTION

Anyone suspected of corruption will be immediately removed from office and arrest proceedings will be commenced for those suspected of engaging in corrupt practices.There will be heavy fines and prison sentences for those involved in corruption. Any minister or head of major department involved in corruption may serve a life sentence or even receive the death penalty.

The PA will adopt a one-strike system that any official found guilty of a serious infraction will not be allowed to work in public administration again. Any official found guilty of corruption or any form of theft from the state could also be subject to a mandatory heavy sentence. The PA views stealing from the state and corruption as a form of treason and will be suitably unsympathetic in response.

The PA would not underwrite the current system that appears to dominate, which is cadre deployment at all costs, in effect guaranteeing numerous lazy, ineffective, corrupt or simply criminal office bearers jobs for life, with the only sanction that they are moved to a different department after failing or being caught out.

The PA proposes that random integrity tests be done by specialised anti-corruption units on office-bearers in such a manner that no office-bearer, regardless of position, should be immune. No office-bearer will know whether or not he or she is being tested and must never be sure if a bribe or kickback or other corrupt activity is a test.This must be administered by a well-qualified panel of experts with a broad separation of powers in such a panel in order to eliminate abuse of power. The scourge of corruption is currently so extreme that such a deterrence measure, we believe, is wholly justified as part of a commitment to clean up government.

The Zondo commission's findings will be implemented and the culprits punished with imprisonment.

GANGSTERISM

The Patriotic Alliance understands that there are social and economic reasons behind why gangsterism has proliferated and continues to be such a huge problem in our communities. Justice for communities, executed fairly, strictly and without delay, will help to restore the confidence of people in the justice system.

More importantly, restoring hope and opportunities to people in beleaguered communities is the most important tool to encouraging people as a group to make the right choices every day, because they should know that there are options available to them to survive that do not include violence. To date, no political administration has done nearly enough to create such a sense of hope and renewal and this is the only thing that will bring long-term positive change.

HOLISTIC APPROACH

Recognising that almost 90% of South Africans are religious, it is irrational to maintain a completely secular state. The state must respect and make space for religious practices in state institutions. Key focuses should also include establishing drug rehabilitation centres and mental health institutions, which are crucial for restoring dignity and community safety. Addressing the grip of gangs and organised crime on our communities is essential, as it leads to conflict and traps young, promising individuals in a cycle of violence and illegal activities.

2.        THE ECONOMY

The PA strategy focuses on reviving the economy through targeted interventions in job creation, crime reduction, SOE development and education, with the ultimate goal of restoring hope and prosperity to South Africa.

THE FREE MARKET

The PA supports and promotes the free market system. Too much government interference in the free movement of goods and services in any society often results in outcomes that are harmful to society.

However, the PA accepts that the state must shoulder the burden of being a regulator in order to ensure that citizens can participate in the market as freely and fairly as possible. A PA government will never abandon its role as a market referee to correct market failures, when necessary, such as breaking unfair monopolies, oligopolies and other forms of unnatural lack of competition such as price-fixing and collusion.

A PA government will therefore play the role of fair referee to ensure that citizens are free to pursue their economic ambitions to grow the country's economy, create jobs, reduce inequality and create prosperity through the efficient delivery of goods and services.

As much as the free market system is known to have desirable outcomes, our global world is highly complex and a PA government will also implement trade protections for local industries when necessary, and within reason.

South Africa is often cited as the most unequal society in the world. The difference between the "haves and have-nots"is unsustainable and the situation has not been improving.South Africa has the hallmarks of a well­ developed economy and an extremely impoverished, underdeveloped country, all in one.

This manifesto is intended to create a break from the traditional approach to managing the South African economy as though it were any other middle-income developing democratic country. There are few economies in the world that are as structurally distorted as ours and with the specific history and challenges faced by the majority of South Africans over the last three centuries.

SMME DEVELOPMENT

One of the key indicators of most developed economies is the role played by micro, small and medium enterprises (SMMEs). They are the largest employers of the workforce and, in a competitive environment, are the breeding ground for innovation and growth. According to data from the World Bank, SMMEs represent about 90% of businesses and more than 50% of employment globally. In emerging economies, formal SMMEs contribute around 40% of GDP. In South Africa, that number can be debated to only be between 20% and 25%. This must change.

By the 1980s, just five conglomerates – Anglo American (which incorporated SAB), Sanlam (which incorporated Gencor/Billiton), Old Mutual, Liberty Life and Rembrandt- came to dominate the South African economy and controlled more than 85% of all shares listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

By the mid 1980s South Africa's largest corporations started engaging with the ANC in an effort to position the economy for a new political construct. Apartheid became morally indefensible and it was hurting the bottom line. Sanctions were hurting South African corporations hard and making it difficult to do business internationally. The five controlling corporations of the economy had all established strong and profitable international operations over the previous two decades and, with the bulk of their wealth based outside South Africa through complex subsidiaries and holding companies, they found it very difficult to conduct their business.

From the late 1980s to mid 1990s, South Africa's major corporations managed to achieve their desired outcome when negotiations with the ANC and the National Party delivered a way forward post-apartheid.

The biggest assistance the post-apartheid state provided to the largest South African corporations was to allow them to shift their primary listings to the London Stock Exchange. Established companies transferred the bulk of their wealth and capital out of South Africa.

In post-apartheid South Africa, state support and partnerships with formerly whites-only capital were provided to a carefully selected, narrow group of those politically connected and compliant. An elite black business class, drawn from the ranks of the ANC, was born, with privileged access to the economic crumbs being offered by white business. The aim was to cement relations between white capital and a newly created class of black capital.

By 2024, despite some legislative changes to promote competition and develop a market-based economy with the accompanying rhetoric, little has changed in the economy and who controls it. Concentration, collusion, corruption and callous cruelty remain the hallmarks of the South African economy. The companies that historically directed and currently direct the state's hand in the economy have benefited handsomely since 1994.They have been able to shed the racist label and grow their fortunes globally, reaching heights they could have only dreamt of during apartheid. Large corporations in South Africa often do not care about the plight of the many as long as their self-interest of short term gain is realised.

What is required is the political will to serve the interests of the many as opposed to the very few. This will require a significant departure from currently practiced norms. In the public discourse around South Africa's economy, the loudest voices and the only voices covered by the media belong to the largest corporations. It is these corporations and their members that serve on government councils and advisory boards. It is these corporations and their well-trained army of "independent" mouthpieces that echo and support them. Nowhere in the discourse will one hear the voices of micro, small and medium enterprises. The media pay no attention to these voices.

We need to "think small first" in developing public policy and regulation. The European Commission emphasised this principle in its 2008 Small Business Act, which called on policy-makers to take into account the needs and interests of SMMEs from the earliest moment in policy formulation.

SMMEs are the engine of growth

SMMEs are essential for a competitive and efficient market SMMEs are critical for poverty reduction

SMMEs play a particularly important role in developing countries

SOUTH AFRICA'S ECONOMY NEEDS DIVERSIFICATION AND LESS CONCENTRATION

Competitive markets promote economic efficiency and inclusive growth. The benefits of competitive markets can include lower prices and better products for consumers, greater opportunities for workers, and a level playing field for entrepreneurs and small businesses that seek to enter and effectively participate in markets or expand their share.

The high levels of market concentration undermine both growth and transformation of the economy. Highly concentrated markets are becoming more concentrated.

SMMEs represent 95% of firms, 38% of employment but only 24% of value by tax-paying firms, compared to the OECD average of 50%-60% of vaIue.

The top 10% of firms have 86% of total turnover compared with 1.6% for the bottom 50% of firms (SMMEs)

Violations of the Competition Act should be criminalised and violators imprisoned. This will immediately remedy problems of collusion. The cost of paltry fines are all too often only passed back to the consumer.

South African economic conditions and structures are hostile to SMMEs and undermine inclusion and the job-creation potential of the economy.

Competition law cannot on its own achieve required transformation of economic structure. We will ensure other interventions include:

•               Legislation and regulations; licensing and procurement; investment incentives and support services and technology-development policies.

•       Agricultural value chains warrant immediate focus to support a broader land reform initiative

Greater coordination is required between regulators and public entities responsible for issuing of licences and concessions.

BUILDING SMALL BUSINESSES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE ECONOMY AND CREATE JOBS IS ONE OF SOUTH AFRICA'S BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES.

The SMMEs sector in South Africa has been relatively stagnant over the last decade. Given the limited growth in numbers and general decline from a decade ago, it appears the sector is not making a meaningful contribution to the South African economy.

South Africa's rate of established entrepreneurship is extremely low compared to other African countries. Given its GDP per capita, South Africa should have a rate of early-stage entrepreneurship three times greater than the current rate.With fewer start-ups and a low rate of survival, there is a thin pipeline of businesses with a high chance of scaling.

Access to finance is higher for formal SMMEs and those on the upper-end of the firm size spectrum. The IFC estimates the total SMME finance gap between supply and demand to be R600 billion.

Total funding provided to the SMME sector is currently R320 billion. Commercial banks account for the majority of the financing extended to formal SMME's, representing 68.9%, or R220 billion of the current formal SMME funding supply. Bank funding is biased toward longer-term (vehicle or property) financing compared to short-term (working capital) financing. Government and microfinance institutions account for the bulk of finance extended to the informal sector.

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

100-DAY ACTION PLAN

A RETURN TO INVESTMENT AND POSITIVE FEEDBACK LOOPS

The promotion of construction and other major infrastructure projects will attract significant foreign funds and unlock millions of rands currently held by South African companies. Addressing the shrinking JSE and the alarming rate of company delistings is crucial for creating an environment conducive to business growth and capital investment in the country.

South Africans need to rather aspire to growing their wealth, collectively. As the PA we want to see South Africans from all sectors of society becoming richer. When we target the collective enrichment of all South Africans, we create a positive feedback loop of becoming richer together, which ultimately leads to a larger tax base, more care for the environment, better educated children and a more resilient society.

South Africa has a comparative advantage in the production of agriculture, mining and manufacturing products relating to these sectors. But the high levels of unemployment and other linked issues such as crime have hurt investment and growth, which has had a negativefeedbackeffecton employment.

A prosperous economy with less debt is the essential ingredient that will allow us to secure the aspirations we have for ourselves, our families and our country. A PA government will create opportunities that will boost productivity to secure greater prosperity and build more 21st-century infrastructure.

TAXATION AND GRANTS

The rich must bear the brunt of taxation. However, they should not be taxed so heavily that they would not be prepared to establish businesses.

The poor should also try to contribute to their municipalities for the sake oftheirown dignity. People living below the poverty line should be supported by government.

Social grants are a necessity for certain categories of poor people, particularly the disabled, the very poor and the elderly.

All other people should be prepared to work and the taking of social grants should be discouraged.

If there is not enough employment being offered for poor people, then they should be entitled to social grants.

UNEMPLOYMENTANDJOBS

Through conscription, we are the only party offering all school leavers 100% employment. Combating crime in the streets and in the government will bolster business confidence.

We shall take 1% of sales from profitable corporations towards a national lending bank for indigent entrepreneurs.

We shall drop the minimum wage requirement for businesses who have been in business for less than one year.

We shall change union laws to make them apolitical, like in Germany. They should be business-oriented and should sit on company boards so that they are completely aligned with management and profitability.

Foreign corporations should be given tax holidays for a period of time as long as they meet certain employment criteria.

The official unemployment rate is now over 32% and, according to the World Bank, South Africa has the highest unemployment rate in the world. However, an expanded definition of unemployment could put the number north of 40%. Youth unemployment is above 44%. South Africa is the most unequal country in the world with the highest rate of unemployment in the world. Less than 10% of people own more than 90% of the country's wealth.

These extreme and persistent problems interact with other economic and social problems such as inadequate education, poor health outcomes and crime.

Our unemployment rate is symptomatic of a weak and failing economy, which in turn stems from a discouraged and hopeless population.

Half of the officially unemployed are women and youth. This youth bulge is a ticking time bomb for South Africa and the PA will put in place every practical measure to absorb the youth, among our country's most energetic and resourceful people, into the workforce. Our commitment to conscription is a major contribution to dealing with this problem, along with the PA's support for the principle of further industrialisation, tied to training targets that address the very real skills gaps that exist.

Despite many people being trained, SETAs have become rife with corruption. Funds need redirecting to the National Defence Force, and the SANDF's mandate should be expanded to include border control and a broader national service. This will eradicate youth unemployment, as young people will be integrated into structures enhancing their skills and personal development.

Conscription will bolster manpower numbers needed, for example, in disaster relief, ambulance services, firefighting, road cleaning and clearing services, and many other areas where conscripts can help.

IMPROVING STATE PROCUREMENT AND MAKING IT MORE TRANSPARENT

We must simultaneously recognise that the state is the biggest purchaser of goods and services across the economy. Many businesses, large and small, aspire to do business with the state. Being the beneficiary of a state contract, either through public tender or otherwise, has enriched many businesspeople in South Africa, who have unfortunately seen state procurement as the road to riches. However, public funds are a precious resource that should be maximised for the good of as many people as possible.

Therefore, public procurement must become more competitive and the state must get more bang for its buck than is currently the case, where municipalities and other arms of government can count themselves lucky if they are being charged only double for what they might pay for something on the open market.

BLOCKCHAIN - an encrypted system of records rendered impossible to hack and alter by spreading information across multiple servers - must be introduced in procurement across the public sector as a deterrent to corruption through making procurement records permanent, transparent and available for real­ time auditing to the public.

RE-INDUSTRIALISATION

The demise of Eskom, Transnet and many other core drivers of industry has had a crippling effect on the country. Restoring the country's rail network must be a priority.

As a traditionally effective job creator, Transnet can create millions of indirect jobs by connecting remote areas rich in agriculture and minerals to populated regions for product transformation. The Western Cape, isolated due to mountain ranges, can realise its economic potential through tunnelling and rail, connecting key areas with a mega logistics hub in a central location such as Beaufort West.

The reason why mining and its outputs account for almost two-thirds of South Africa's exports is because South Africa is stuck in the typical profile of post-colonial African societies that export raw materials only to buy back finished products that have used those raw materials and transformed them into consumer goods. South Africa (and certainly the rest of Africa) possesses all the requisite raw materials for almost all the finished trade products that the world's population consumes.

One of the reasons why South Africa struggles to industrialise and manufacture the kinds of products that it imports is because labour and other business costs are far lower in competitor emerging economies and markets. Labour costs are not, however, the biggest deterrent as labour costs continue to remain relatively low in South Africa.The cost of transport, communications and general living in South Africa are too high and it falls to government to find ways to lower these in relation to other nations in order to make South Africa far more competitive.

More primary manufacturing for local consumption within South Africa's borders would lift strain on South Africa's ports infrastructure, which is currently not able to cope with the high levels of exports and imports, though this infrastructure must of course still be expanded.

There is also a lack of skill and expertise to follow through on industrialisation and manufacturing targets, which can only be addressed by a more focused approach in the education system, a discussion point that is covered more broadly in this document.

Despite doubts, SAA remains a key national asset. Its primary role in bringing international tourists to South Africa is vital for boosting local tourism and the economy. The direct and indirect jobs created in this sector can rapidly transform South Africa, opening new opportunities.

ELECTRICITY

Global interest in assisting Eskom to rapidly expand its generation and distribution capabilities is high. South Africa's rich resources in coal, gas, sun, wind and wave power make it ideal for mega multi-PPP projects. Focusing resources on making the Karoo the centre of this project, through partnerships with the private sector and a diverse energy mix, would, just as one example, provide a cost-effective solution for energy generation and distribution.

It is obvious that power generation needs to be further liberalised while Eskom should be made to focus on becoming a more effective transmission company.

Renewable energy offers cost-effective new generating opportunities but the country also needs to commit to building modern, safe nuclear reactors to provide baseload power. Gas-fired turbines should also be embraced as an important part of transitioning towards cleaner forms of electricity.

The Central Karoo, surrounded by rich methane gas deposits and special granites, is ideally located for establishing solar, wind, and gas-to-energy systems. Piping gas to towns across several provinces through service tunnels built for rail networks can provide a cheap energy source for thousands of households, reducing reliance on coal.

The PA will not allow the abandonment of coal generation too rapidly at the expense of the economy, but a more sustainable mix of generation capacity must be pursued overtime.

Burning billions of rands in diesel turbines is pure desperation and a sign of inadequate long-term planning by government. The sooner the country can escape this most expensive form of electricity generation just to keep the economy on life support, the better.

The lack of reliable, affordable electricity is without doubt the biggest constraint against the growth of the economy and the creation of new jobs, businesses and opportunities.

Solving this problem permanently and putting strong measures in place to never have to return to the hopeless embarrassment of load shedding will bea central focus of any PA-led government.

On the consumer end of electricity, South Africa faces the large problem of illegal connections. Municipalities large and small increasingly struggle to pay their Eskom debts since they recover far less in revenue than they expend in bulk purchases to Eskom.

The principle that people should payforthe electricity they consume is a commitment to a sustainable society. The PA is, however, conscious of the phenomenon that big businesses have also exploited the weaknesses in government to bypass paying for electricity and water services. These businesses must be cut off from service and prosecuted, where necessary.

ALIGNING AND INTEGRATING THE"TWO ECONOMIES"

Since the early days of democracy, leaders such as Thabo Mbeki recognised the fact that there are effectively "two economies" operating nearly in parallel in South Africa, which in effect mean that people live in two different worlds.

People who participate primarily in the formal economy are subject to more regulation, taxes and the enforcement of various pieces of legislation. The second, informal economy, also called the "township economy': is less subject to oversight and control, but is nevertheless enormous. Over time, it is essential that these economies are merged, in much the same way that all aspects of life in South Africa should be merged, including the approach to education, healthcare, security, residential living and more, so that most South Africans enjoy a similar high quality oflife with similar basic lifestyles and prospects.

Nevertheless, the two economies are a current reality. The township economy is worth an estimated R900 billion annually. With more than 150,000 operational spaza shops employing about 2.6 million people, it has been estimated that 80% of these shops are now owned by foreigners, often without the legal right to do so. This could well equate to roughly R700 billion annually being earned by non-taxpaying foreigners, who are known to remit this money out of the country. The money stops circulating in South Africa, and is also not taxed. The state must intervene against this foreign threat to vulnerable communities. We must ensure as much as possible of the nearly Rl trillion generated by the township economy benefits South Africans, primarily by enforcing immigration laws and regulations.

This manifesto is intended to create a break from the traditional approach to managing the South African economy like it was any other middle-income developing democratic country. There is no example in the world that shares the same challenges as South Africa. There is no economy in the world that is so structurally distorted. There is no economy in the world that has had the specific history of South Africa and the challenges faced by the majority of South Africans over the last three centuries.

THE CAPABLE STATE

A very important manifesto point for the economy will be the PA's insistence on a return to a capable state. Under the ANC, the role of government was in many respects ceded to the private sector.

It is now very difficult to achieve even basic repairs and maintenance of government facilities without private sector contractors being paid to do the work, often for far too much money and for substandard work, and not quickly enough.

The reason for this state of affairs is because the contract and tender system has long been used to facilitate bribes, kickbacks and all other manner of corrupt deals.

We need to get back to having a capable government with employees that manage service delivery.

The use of consultants has also seen hundreds of billions stolen from taxpayers through the duplication of roles. Public officials and administrators are paid salaries but instead farm work out to consultants, once again inflating costs to the taxpayer, while often no work ends up being completed anyway.

Within this framework of returning to having a capable state, the crippling power of unions should also be brought to book.

TRADE UNIONS

The tragedy at Marikana is also well known and is the result of the perceived need by our people to resort to violent strikes or violence in general in order to be heard. Every effort must be made to reduce the violent nature of protests and well-formed unionisation is key to this.

There is a persistent wage differential between unionised and non-unionised workers in South Africa, however, suggesting that unions are keeping wages higher for their members, thereby posing additional challenges to the unemployment problem. The PA will seek reforms.

Many analysts have written about how trade unions have protected individuals who perform poorly, especially in critical public sectors such as education, and they consistently block measures to make salary adjustments that are linked to performance. The PA will ensure that unions do not have the power to protect inefficient members such as weak teachers and police members. Unions must be there to protect the rights of workers, but not the right to perform poorly in their job.

Trade unionism is an important part of the South African constitution and it plays a key role in protecting our democracy, but the practical outworking of trade unionism has not always benefitted the growth of South Africa broadly. The main reason for this is the often incestuous relationship between trade union leaders, the ruling party and business interests. The PA would propose that in future trade unions operate strictly independently without all the numerous conflicts of interest that currently exist.

BANKING AND CREDIT

FICA legislation has in effect helped to entrench and increase the gap between the rich and the poor. Although this legislation has protected the economy from some of the harmful effects of reckless lending, it has inadvertently shored up the visible signs of apartheid. Funding mechanisms wi11have to be created that bridge this gap.

The PA will reinstitute finance policies that worked in the past, such as the thirty-three-and-a-third subsidy scheme, which allowed certain people to gain access to finance, especiaIly those in the market segment where banks were reluctant to provide housing finance. In this instance, government contributed a third of the loan repayment for a period of up to five years. This scheme had the result that even those citizens who became unemployed during the five-year period did not lose their homes to the banks as a result of nonpayment.

The PA intends to create a state fund that gives loans for various causes to people who would otherwise have to pay very high interest rates for credit. Such loans could be for homes, for businesses and other causes, including education. Interest charged could merely be in line with inflation.

The PA does not intend to nationalise any privately owned banks, but the state's bank would bea competitor to private banks and it is the PA's contention that the state bank would be able to prove itself as a strong and stable competitor, capable of sustaining itself without proving to be a loss to the taxpayer (instead being a boon to all South Africans).

The PA would also encourage further competition in the banking sector and the credit sector as a whole.

In the immediate future, the PA would work to develop Post Bank to make it more competitive with private banks.

The PA contends that a state bank will stimulate the domestic economy and allow people to build their own houses and do the things with their lives that they want to and not necessarily always what the state thinks they should do.

3.        EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

The standard of teaching in many state schools is unacceptably poor, despite a significant public budget being invested every year in education. The PA undertakes to be courageous in dealing with the factors that limit educational outcomes for our children and young people. According to many studies, South Africa's education system is among the world's worst, particularly in relation to maths and science.

Repeated tests have revealed that a worryingly large percentage of young people struggle to simply read and write.

The education sector is increasingly becoming an economic powerhouse. Yet there is a shortage of schools, especially secondary schools, in many communities. Building and resourcing public secondary schools across South Africa is imperative, along with ensuring that schools offer nutritious meals daily to their learners.

The PA understands that a school or education body is largely only as effective as its senior management, particularly its headmaster/principal. Principals will thus be appointed with very limited union influence, unless this is in aid of efficiency and leadership/management qualities. Principals will have to meet set minimum criteria and specifications and be employed on strict performance contracts.

The PA would also expect that teachers be subjected to independently administered tests to determine if they are capable of doing their jobs and be sent on remediation courses if they are found wanting. If, after an agreed period, these teachers do not meet minimum requirements, they would have to either be sent back to university for more fundamental training or be reassigned to a job more suited to their skills.

IDENTIFYING THE GIFTED, UPLIFTING SPECIAL NEEDS

The PA would develop programmes that identify talented individuals from every school who exhibit either above average intellectual or sporting ability. Such individuals (which exist in every social class, racial group and age range) are the people with the latent ability to innovate and solve the problems of South Africa in the future. They must be exposed to greater stimulation as they are paradoxically at higher risk of dropping out of school. Similarly, programmes need to be developed for those with lower abilities, so that they can also be granted the best chances in life.

The PA will develop, fund and support mentorship programmes in schools to allow pupils to form relationships with role models in various fields, in order to help them make the right career choices and succeed towards their goals in a systematic, step-by-step fashion. In this respect, the PA would also assign life coaches to each school, providing such individuals are able to produce results.

The PA would be willing to explore public-private partnerships in the education sector as affordable private schools have been found to produce good results. Private schools who do well can be subsidised by government, allowing them to either charge pupils much less or nothing at all. A scale can be developed to regulate how such subsidies from government can be disbursed to ensure greater equality in society.

TERTIARY INCENTIVES

The PA would like to make education at tertiary level more affordable and even free for deserving students. Particularly if you study in a scarce field, you can be aided financially in more ways than are currently happening.This means management studies, engineering, medicine, technology and so on-but if you accept state assistance then you should not be allowed to emigrate with those scarce skills for an agreed-upon, but significant, space of time in recognition of the investment that the state has made.

A more targeted and balanced approach in education in order to promote skills development and expertise growth will address the shortfalls in South Africa's industrialisation ambitions. The PA will pay to send South African students to education centres worldwide in order to bring back valuable knowledge and expertise on every industry in which South Africa could grow to become a major competitor.

FIGHTING THE BRAIN DRAIN

For every emigrant who leaves SA, 10 unskilled people lose their jobs. The PA undertakes to reverse this trend and would act to ensure the retention of skilled South Africans. The PA would want South Africa to retain skills and grow the workforce so that the pool of professionals and people with specialised talents becomes as large as possible. Countries are increasingly relying on intellectual capital for success and the retention and spread of skills and knowledge are crucial.

This is particularly valid in light of the evidence that the primary cause of brain drain is not affirmative action, employment equity policies, BEE or terrifying headlines about crime and violence but rather that countries such as the UK, US, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia have led active recruitment programmes in South Africa. Othercountriesgooutoftheirwayto poach our most skilled individuals.

These countries alone have accounted for 75% (by volume) of skilled emigration, with the UK receiving approximately half of annual skilled South African emigration from 1990 to 1996.The South African healthcare sector has been hit particularly hard by this. A widespread skills drain in South Africa and in the developing world in general is generally considered a cause for concern, but the South African government has done little to reverse the trend despite it costing the country billions and benefiting the developed world.

The PA undertakes to reverse this trend and even attract international talent to these shores. South Africa is a country with much to offer and it must lead active recruitment programmes of its own to grow its professional skills base through targeted immigration -along with a well-planned educational foundation for its citizens.

It remains counterproductive to keep training and educating people only for them to leave and share their skills with an adoptive country.

4.        EMPOWERMENT AND DISCRIMINATION

The ANC government made Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) a policy centrepiece, but by the party's own admission BEE has failed to improve the lot of the vast majority of black South Africans, with Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment not faring much better.

Empowerment requirements have functioned to enrich a black elite class while effectively creating a tax on doing business, particularly and ironically for the state itself. The consequences are plain to see, since any legislation that interferes with the free market and the laws of competition will always be an inefficient system that is open to abuse.

It is time to do away with BEE legislation as it currently exists. Companies that are not sufficiently representative and diverse may be made to pay an "empowerment levy" into an empowerment fund to be established to represent the interests of all previously disadvantaged South Africans. This fund can then be used to fund empowerment initiatives such as supporting businesses with loans and paying for bursaries to ensure that the playing field between rich and poor continues to be levelled in a sustainable manner that promotes innovation, particularly the ideas of young entrepreneurs in a competitive environment.

When it comes to employment equity, the PA is also concerned that dividing workplaces according to race only further entrenches the racial categories that were invented by colonial masters and the architects of apartheid that followed them.

Human capital flight has resulted in a shrinkage of the economy, both in terms of how many jobs are now available to unskilled South Africans as well as the actual capital that follows emigration. Apartheid can no longer be used as the catch-a11seapegoat to allow the current government to get away with ongoing faiIure.

The PA will therefore promote the progressive abolition of racial categories as official signifiers of identity in society. Race should be seen as a signifier of culture, which is the South Africa we want to see, where people are not treated, first and foremost, as black, white, Indian or coloured, but rather as South Africans.

We cannot keep kicking the can of the racial question down the road. The liberation movement struggled for decades to abolish apartheid and labels of race. In 1994, the country had the opportunity to do away with racial labels, but opted not to. It is now time to begin to defeat apartheid once and for all.

The Patriotic Alliance also broadly subscribes to the South African Bill of Rights, which proscribes unfair discrimination on the basis of gender, age, sexual orientation, race, sex, class, religion, culture, language, disability status, marital status, family affiliation and other relevant attributes or characteristics. The party has established numerous structures within its ranks to recognise the value of distinct social groupings, including the youth, veterans, women, those with disabilities and members of the diverse LGBTQl+ community.

The PA accepts without question that societies become more stable, egalitarian and prosperous when women are empowered, young girls are properly educated, birth control is freely available and high infant mortality rates are lowered.These factors alone encourage women and their partners, if they have them, to plan families more carefully and responsibly and to raise children more equipped to handle the challenges of the modern world.

The PA therefore backs policies that promote the empowerment of women and will defend women's rights to decide what happens to their bodies.

The PA also plans to create further opportunities for women in all industries and economic sectors of South Africa and will restructure industries to enable women and their immediate families to get ahead and have a real chance in life to raise healthy, happy families and/or to focus on having strong careers.

Potentially negative, exclusionary and marginalising rules, practices, traditions, attitudes and assumptions must be limited.

The Patriotic Alliance further recognises that the Afrikaans language is not a language of any "enemy" and is widely spoken by numerous groups throughout South Africa, including coloured people. Afrikaans language rights should be respected in the same way all official languages are protected.

South Africa's freedoms are hard-won and a PA-governed state will not allow the oppression of any group at the hands of another on arbitrary grounds of preference.

South Africa urgently needs to:

Establish a Black Entrepreneurial Development Fund to support 100% black-owned businesses.

Remove ownership requirements from B-BBEE codes, replacing them with a mandatory contribution to the fund by businesses engaging with the state or holding mining/mineral rights.

Make the business environment more friendly and conducive to growth.

5.        HOUSING

It is the responsibility of the state to ensure that its citizens, particularly its poorest and most vulnerable, are properly housed.

Housing lists should be encrypted and put on the blockchain, which will make the allocation of units tamper and corruption proof, and completely transparent to the public. Officials have turned the allocation of housing units into their own personal businesses.

However, the current backlog for RDP houses continues to be embarrassingly high, while the demand for access to affordable rental opportunities such as social housing and other subsidised forms of rental housing far outstrips supply.

Rental syndicates have overwhelmed our inner cities, especially Johannesburg's, where so-called hijacked buildings proliferate in their hundreds. Desperate households are willing to pay rentals to building hijacking syndicates, often led by individuals who are not even South African, who squeeze people into deplorable, congested and unsafe spaces.

This is a symptom of the manifest failures of the state.

It is essential that those leading our towns and cities seize and expropriate buildings that have been rendered unsafe, so that they can be converted into decent accommodation for South Africans. Any illegal foreigners found in these buildings must be deported, while anyone involved in the hijacking of any building needs to be identified, arrested and heavily prosecuted.

South Africa can and should learn from the lessons of many other countries who have also struggled with the challenge of informal settlements and slums. In the United Kingdom, slum living was banned in 1930 and households were successfully funnelled into systems of subsidies and grants that ultimately took as many as 600,000 people out of slum and slum-like conditions in London alone.

A PA government wilI continue with the current programme of upgrading informaI settlements, but a date wi11 have to be set after which the building of any further informal structures will not be allowed. All informal and semi-formal settlements will have to be enumerated and mapped comprehensively to criminalise the erection of any further informal structures, since shack farming as an industry is counteracting the state's ambitions to upgrade informal settlements and is encouraging illegal immigrants to stay in South Africa.

Once people are moved into formal living, their informal dwellings will need to be demolished and the space, if possible, should either be used productively or be protected from further incursion and land grabs if it is an unsafe area to live such as a wetland, dolomitic sinkhole area or flood zone.

The government has been guilty of transferring ownership of old state-owned units to citizens without upgrading them to a uniformly acceptable standard first. Before the units in any complex can be transferred, the residents will also need to demonstrate that they have established functional body corporates with the ability to manage levies and essential repairs and maintenance.

Although it is currently not legally possible to build RDP homes for farmworkers on privately owned farmland, the PA will pass legislation setting minimum norms and standards for housing on farms so that all farm owners will agree to such if they wish to house workers and/or their families on these properties. The conditions for many of our people on farms are often deplorably poor and an agreed standard would help to ensure a basic quaIity of life for these people who are indeed contributing to our economy.

The PA understands that South Africans would also like the opportunity to build their own homes, and therefore more land needs to be made available for this to take place, with the full support of municipal servicing for these endeavours. There have been examples of people who receive RDP houses who demolish poorly built structures and rebuild their own homes anyway. This is inefficient and a waste of time, energy, labour and physical resources.

In order to reduce such inefficiency, a system can be put in place whereby the state provides building materials up to a certain payment cap, allowing residents to then build their own homes, contributing extra funding to the extent that the household can afford.

It is an indictment on the current government that the state has hardly built any new old age homes since the dawn of democracy in 1994. RDPs have become the go-to housing solution for the elderly, but these do not address the specific needs of the elderly and are especially ill-suited to solving the problem when these RDPs are the new"walk-up"flats where only the ground floors can be used for the elderly.

The state must recommit itself to building exponentially more state-run old age homes. Similarly, council­ owned affordable flats and social housing apartments are required on an enormous scale to supplement the limitations of RDP housing, which is targeted at only very poor households.

6.        WATER AND SANITATION

The PA contends that the rate of service delivery in poor settlements in South Africa has been unacceptably slow. More efficient systems of sanitation, with improved access to electricity and water, will be a top priority for the PA. However, the PA will also be more decisive and stronger on preventing illegal land occupations and land grabs, as these cost society heavily in the provision of basic services, having proper planning processes disrupted, with the loss of productive land and the encouragement of illegal migration.

As mentioned, shack farming has become an industry and has contributed greatly to the influx of illegal foreigners. This wi11end under the PA.

As regards water supply and sanitation, some predictions show surface water supply in South Africa could decrease by 60% by the year 2070 in parts of the Western Cape. South Africa has an estimated total water capacity of 38 billion cubic metres, but will need far more if the economy is to keep on growing. Massive urban migration has placed further strain on the country's ageing water infrastructure and has created a large backlog.

A metro like Johannesburg is a case study of how half the municipality's debt is caused by water losses. Innovative technologies such as the relining of old, dirty metal water pipes using resin and epoxy offer a faster way to fix this decaying infrastructure for as long as 50 years and for half the price of putting in new piping systems. Preventing the loss of water and recovery of payments for services will turn the tide of ongoing losses and return our towns and cities to recording surpluses for the provision of services and the repayment of debts.

The industrial sector, including mining, is responsible for massive use of water, often with terms of use and access that are not clearly defined. It is critical that government more proactively engage with industry to ensure that water (especially acid mine drainage) be used and re-used in such a way that the country's water supply is not threatened, and is improved. The state needs to be more willing to agree to off-set agreements with mines for water, with the understanding that this would not imply the privatisation of the water industry (which must be avoided), but rather a partnership that acknowledges the value that industry could bring to the table in order to provide a boost to the water network and its supply.

The PA will build massive infrastructure, including partnerships with neighbouring or other SADC countries in order to ensure South Africa's future water security and create jobs.

7.        HEALTHCARE

The PA must improve the performance of public hospitals and work to ensure better services.

Where possible, the PA will put local communities and experts, not unaccountable bureaucrats, in charge of improving the performance of public hospitals by creating community-controlled hospital boards that will manage hospital budgets by instilling a "patient-care first"(communities first) policy.

At government hospitals, patients have been known to stand in queues for as long as 24 hours.There is clearly a great need to improve public healthcare. The most important health department in the country, Gauteng provincial health, annually gives back money to Treasury that it has not been able to spend. That unspent money is clear robbery of the rights of our people to healthcare.

The PA would explore going into more public-private partnerships in order to raise the level of public healthcare to something similar to that enjoyed by those in private healthcare.

The PA will introduce drug-related healthcare centres in all areas of the country that are struggling overwhelmingly with the scourge of drugs.

The PA will establish more mobile clinics to service rural areas and ensure that the mobile clinics already in service are dispatched more frequently and reliably as they are being heavily underutilised, which puts unnecessary strain on those such as farm workers who must undertake long journeys to access some of the most basic healthcare services.

The current government is working to establish a national health insurance (NHI) system out of concerns for discrepancies within the national health care system, particularly unequal access to healthcare among different socioeconomic groups. The PA is not opposed to developing a more comprehensive state healthcare system, but the state must first prove it is able to use the resources already allocated to it before demanding more.

The PA would support legislation to criminalise the selling and marketing of dangerous, unproven pharmaceuticals as many are dying as a result of lax enforcement against quackery.

The supply of life-saving chronic medications must be maintained at all public health facilities and a system to ensure supply must be maintained.

The PA supports the principle that 100% of HIV-infected citizens must have access to treatment. We believe the war against this disease, and others like it, including TB, can be won and we will not shirk from this fight.

Preventable medicine stockouts must be seen as unlawful and a violation of health rights. The administration of our care centres, particularly hospitals, needs much stricter management. Budgets will need to be handled far more effectively and strong management will be able to ensure the supply of medicines. There must be accountable centres of control for this and very severe penalties against those officials who fail our people. With advance planning, no medicine need ever run out. They are playing with matters of life and death. Corruption in healthcare and the enrichment of greedy elites is nothing less than murder when the end result is a desperate patient who does not receive meds and then dies as a result.

South Africa's intellectual property laws must be amended in order to protect the right to health and to fully utilise all pro-public health flexibilities available in international law.

8.        LAND, FARMING AND FISHING

LAND REFORM, REDISTRIBUTION AND OWNERSHIP

This is both a matter of historical justice and contemporary stability. The PA does not wish to advocate for any policies that would negatively impact on food security, rural jobs and economic growth, but the state must become a more active participant in the purchase of privately owned land, as prime farmland continues to be sold regularly, but primarily back into private hands.

The PA is aware that globally the move has been towards urban living, and the focus should remain on building world-class modern cities for SA's citizens. The future of the bulk of South Africa's people remains in creating well-run, accessible cities and megacities with effective transport systems and access to modern facilities that allow human beings to express their full potential. In this respect, rural living continues to grow less attractive.

As indicated previously, the PA views traditional leaders in rural communities as allies, which is why it has established its Royal Affairs division.

The PA will promote the productive use of land. If this does not happen, then that unproductive land should be bought by the state at market rates and sold or licensed to individuals or companies with more convincing plans for it.

The PA is clear on its position that farming and land ownership are not the same thing. These things have been incorrectly conflated in the debate on land redistribution, but obviously not all land can or should be used for farming just as not all farming land must be redistributed.

The one-time land audit made it clear that there are still significant amounts of unallocated land. Marginal land can be used more proactively, for example. Those communities for whom a historical affinity with the land still exists should be given the opportunity to express that through sustainable, productive farming methods or simply receive land ownership of non-productive land without expectation.

Instead of reselling or donating appropriated state land to particular individuals or communities, the state would prefer to retain ownership of its land in many cases, choosing instead to give people or businesses licences to use the land in ways that contribute most effectively to the growth of the country as a whole or to satisfying a historical claim to be on or use the land.

State land already in government control (a significant amount) can be used to continue the process of land restitution through giving people licences of use or outright ownership, when justified. Valid historical and restitutionary claims to land would advantage any person or community wishing to have access and use of such state land.

The PA will support programmes relating to land redistribution in order to speed up the land reform process in a coordinated manner. The PA will speed up redistribution and pending restitution matters and the red tape associated with the finalisation of these processes. In many cases, land claimants prefer to have their historical claim paid out in cash. While this has been ongoing, it does not change ownership patterns, but the cash settlements should still be recognised as a step forward in addressing past injustice.

The state must draw up a fair payment system for key land that it has identified for reform, but not necessarily for all land.

The PA reiterates that policy issues of land restitution and agriculture are separate issues, though are closely linked.

AGRICULTURE

Issues of land reform and restitution, for those affected by both the policies of the 1913 Land Act and apartheid and those displaced by colonial wars prior to this, can also be viewed as independent from agricultural production, which, while a small generator of revenue, is very important in terms of fighting hunger in the nation. The agricultural industry contributes about 20% of employment in the country. The industry contributes only around 2.4% of GDP for the nation. Due to the aridity of the land, only 13.5% of land can be used for crop production, and only 3% is considered high-potential land.

The agricultural sector continues to face problems, with increased foreign competition and crime being two major challenges for the industry.

As farming is such an essential component of the PA's vision for a South Africa that is a net exporter of food and not a net importer, the state must be open to subsidies for state-partnered farms that engage in behaviour that promotes a more prosperous South Africa. Subsidising of farmers is, for example, common practice in the European Union. This will allow farmers to pay higher salaries to workers and could encourage them to grow the sorts of crops that are sustainable and which fit into the overall macroeconomic plan put in place year by year for the agricultural sector.

Skills transfer in farming is critical and the PA will reward white farmers when they show results in transferring skills to black or coloured farm owners.

Farming and water supply are inextricably linked. Access to water for irrigation is in many ways even more important than access to land. In order to grow the farming sector, innovative ways to increase water supply or use water more effectively will have to be considered.

Farming, of course, is not limited only to land and South African marine and aquaculture opportunities along the shoreline are heavily under exploited. These should be transformed into a major boom industry, instituted and developed in environmentally sustainable ways.

Government needs to be the primary investor in such industries in order to create work, secure food supply and increase exports.

THE OCEAN ECONOMY

Well-run abalone hatcheries can replenish beds and reefs to revive this highly lucrative industry. Wholesale training and skills-transfer are needed to make this vision a reality and dedicated training facilities must be set up at colleges and universities. A marine university/college will also have to be built and resourced.

Once coastal communities have a stake in the success of their locally run industries, whether they be on sea or land, they will have an incentive to steer clear of crime and combat poaching, which impacts on the sustainability and management of valuable state resources.

Small-scale fishermen's access to traditional resources near shore must be reviewed, with the intention of restoring as much of it as possible in a sustainable way. Currently there is no way to explain how businesspeople who do not even live at the coast are granted so many fishing rights, including for shellfish like crayfish, lobster and crab. The PA will put in place a system where people who are established and living at the coast will be prioritised to be given fishing permits.

Numerous other opportunities exist, most particularly in tourism (shark-diving and whale watching) and in infrastructure (including restoring and upgrading harbours, seafood-processing facilities and tourist attractions).

The PA therefore will support fishing communities through the restructuring of this sector and opening up this industry to these communities.

The PA will adopt a balanced approached by setting up more rigorous assessments for new marine protected areas that will benefit the fishing community. The PA will support and continue to protect marine environments and the fishing communities that rely on them.

The PA seeks to create transformation in the fishing industry with the genuine empowerment of disadvantaged communities to gain a significant stake in the industry.

The quotas for harvesting, both near shore and for deep-sea fishing on a massive scale, will have to be reallocated in order to increase the share of disadvantaged community members' ownership of this sector.

Disadvantaged communities must also be given ownership of enterprises that process marine products and export them.The people themselves have said that they want to again have access to marine resources and the industry around it, which have been monopolised by the big fisheries and the processing and export industries derived from it.

The PA undertakes to remain aware that the sea is not a limitless bounty and the party will respect sustainable practices, informed by science, for how and where quotas should be allocated, but the social and economic devastation caused by post-apartheid legislation regarding access to the sea has had consequences as damaging as the race laws that preceded it. These practices will have to be revisited and transformed.