"Where are the jobs, President Zuma?"

Note to editors: Below is an extract of remarks prepared for delivery by DA Leader Helen Zille in Kimberley today.

01 May 2014

On this Workers' Day we honour the many millions of working South Africans who go to their jobs each day to help build this country.

They are the backbone of our economy. They make all the products, provide all the services, build all the infrastructure, teach our children, and look after us in hospitals. We salute working South Africans today. They work hard all year, and they deserve a rest.

We celebrate their hard work, their values, their sacrifice, and their commitment to their families.

But we cannot celebrate Workers' Day without remembering that there are more than 7 million fellow South Africans who are unemployed, who do not have a job to go to after the public holiday.

They share the same values. They also want to give provide a better life for their family, send their children to a better school, and start to work their way out of poverty. They are also prepared to work really hard and sacrifice. They are the same as you and me in every way - except that they cannot find work.

While South Africa rests today, the DA will not rest in our mission to make life a little bit better for these people. We will not rest in our work to expand opportunities to more people. We will not rest in our effort to create real, sustainable jobs.

While South Africa rests today, the DA cannot rest. We stand shoulder to shoulder with all of the friends, neighbours, family members, mothers, fathers and everyone in our country who cannot find a job.

We fight for them in this election. Where we govern, we govern for them. Where we are in opposition, we hold the government accountable for how it serves them.

Make no mistake, we are in the fight of our lives against those who want to keep things the way they are. 

The facts do not lie. When Jacob Zuma was running for President five years ago, he promised he would create 5 million jobs. But since Jacob Zuma became President, 1.4 million MORE South Africans have become unemployed.

Where are the jobs, President Zuma?

That is the only question President Zuma needs to answer in this election. Only one question.

He can refuse to answer for Nkandla if he wants to, we all know the truth.

But he cannot avoid this question: Where are the jobs, President Zuma?

Today we have gathered to remind everyone of the 1.4 million more South Africans who have become unemployed under President Jacob Zuma.

But instead of answering this simple question, we have had silence.

President Zuma has been telling us every day about his "good story to tell". But the good story is not his to tell! His story is not a good one at all. His story is about the 1.4 million more South Africans who are unemployed on his watch.

But the truth is that President Zuma and his cronies love to keep things the way they are. They don't want change, because change threatens their power. Change threatens their money. Change threatens their tenders, and their contracts, and their big houses and blue lights. Change threatens their Nkandlas.

Make no mistake the enemies of change will stop at nothing.

The DA is now the only party in South Africa that stands up for the unemployed and the economically excluded.

Where we govern, we are delivering job-creating economic growth. The one province where the DA governs has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, by far. Unemployment where the DA governs in 22%, compared with 34% in the rest of South Africa.

Over the last five years, the DA government in the Western Cape has created more jobs than any other province in South Africa.

This is not a coincidence. This happened because the DA was in government, because people voted for the DA. This happened because we actually shown that we can cut corruption and create jobs in government - we have walked the talk that nobody else contesting this election has.

That's why we can be confident when we say that we can deliver the economic growth necessary to create 6 million real, permanent jobs in 10 years if we were elected to national government. We can say that confidently because we have the track record!

That is what is at stake in this election. You can choose a DA government that step-by-step cuts corruption, gets the economy growing, creates jobs, and takes the country in the right direction. Or you can help Jacob Zuma keep things just the way they are.

The job creation plan that we have put to the voters in this election is the most progressive set of policies ever offered to the people of this country in a general election since 1994.

The central pillars of our plan are:

Entrepreneurs are the best job creators - We will create a conducive environment for entrepreneurs to lead job creation, and we will cut red tape;

Cut corruption - We will open tender committees to the public, introduce a new Ministerial Handbook to stop Ministers' perks (like the Fast Food Premier here in the Northern Cape) and we will pass a law preventing officials from doing business with government; all of which we have already done where we govern. You will not find an Nkandla where the DA governs!

Guaranteed NSFAS funding for all qualifying matrics - this means that every matric who gets good enough marks to get into university should also get funding to go. No deserving matric should be left behind because of money!

1 million Internships - we will provide one million young South Africans with the opportunity to be placed in an internship to learn on-the-job skills and get the experience they need to get a permanent job.

We know from our campaigning across the country that South Africans are ready to stand together for change. More and more people are choosing the DA as the brightest hope for a better future in South Africa. More and more people are standing together for change, and together for jobs.

In this election voters have a choice between a growing economy, 6 million real jobs, and clean government under the DA; or 5 more years of corruption and unemployment under Jacob Zuma's ANC. 

We know from our campaigning across the country that South Africans are ready to stand together for change. More and more people are choosing the DA as the brightest hope for a better future in South Africa. More and more people are standing together for change, and together for jobs.

In this election voters have a choice between a growing economy, 6 million real jobs, and clean government under the DA; or 5 more years of corruption and unemployment under Jacob Zuma's ANC. 

Issued by the DA, May 1 2014

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