BOKAMOSO
2019 is a chance to bring real change
Happy new year to you all! I hope you have had, or are still having, a wonderful festive season.
2019 is a critically important year for South Africa. This year, we collectively get our hands on the nation’s steering wheel. In the sixth general election of our democracy, we get to determine the direction our nation and our provinces will take over the next five years.
Our health, our safety, our children’s education, our prosperity and our everyday lived experiences over the next five years depend heavily on the choices we make this year. So this is a time to think very carefully about what we want for ourselves and our children.
The DA’s offer to South Africans is to bring change that builds one South Africa for all. We believe the only way forward is to go forward together as one united nation. Only by working together can we solve South Africa’s problems and bring about shared peace and prosperity.
Against the backdrop of a world which is shunning liberal democracy in favour of racial nationalism, the DA’s mission is to unite South Africa’s diverse people around our common values and four powerful pillars: commitment to the Constitution and the rule of law, to non-racialism, to a market-driven economy, and to building a capable state that delivers to all.
These pillars transcend race and class divisions. And they are the essential preconditions for rapid economic growth. Until they become dominant, South Africa is likely to remain on its current trajectory of rising unemployment, rising poverty and rising crime.
Over the coming months, many parties will make many promises. Voters may feel overwhelmed with information and disinformation. Ultimately, though, the choice is a simple one.
We can choose to keep South Africa on its current path as laid out by the ANC and EFF, toward greater state control over the economy, more populism, and more racial division. Or we can choose the DA’s path towards a growing economy, policies that work in practice, and a more united nation.
The DA’s approach to government attracts investment, promotes entrepreneurship, and leads to job creation and a growing economy which in turn provides the tax revenue needed to open more and more opportunities to more and more people.
The DA’s approach to the economy works in practice, which is why over half of all jobs created in South Africa in the past year were created in the DA-run Western Cape (95 000 out of 188 000), even though only one eighth of the nation’s workforce resides there.
At the end of the day, a political party should exist for one reason and one reason only: to govern well for all people. The DA’s track record in government shows unequivocally that it leads in good governance. The DA-run Western Cape leads on every metric of good governance, offering people not only the best chance of finding work, but also the best healthcare, the best basic education, and the best track record on land reform.
We run the cleanest governments by far, meaning that we spend public money on the public, rather than wasting or looting it. This fact is reflected in the latest Auditor-General results, which showed that the Western Cape achieved 83% clean audits, miles ahead of second-placed Gauteng at 52%.
The DA is committed to bringing good, clean government to more and more people and provinces in South Africa. We are determined to fight the ANC’s insider/outsider model of the economy, which enriches a connected few at the expense of an excluded majority. And we are intent on uniting all South Africans around our enduring values.
Our specific pledge to voters is that we will bring change that builds one South Africa for all by ensuring fairer access to jobs, by fighting corruption, by speeding up service delivery, by providing an honest, professional police service, and by securing our borders.
If you share our values and want to vote for the party with the best track record in government, then please make sure you are registered to vote. You can check your registration by going to check.da.org.za.
The final registration weekend is 26-27 January. If you are a first-time voter or are not yet registered, make sure you visit the voting station in your voting district between 8am and 5pm on either the Saturday or the Sunday, with either your green ID book, your smartcard ID or a valid Temporary Identity Certificate.
Team DA is ready to fight this election, armed with our powerful values and our strong commitment to building one South Africa for all. If you share our values and our commitment, please register to vote DA in 2019!
Mmusi Maimane
DA Leader
