Election 2011: Delivering housing opportunities for all

The following is an extract from a speech delivered by DA Leader Helen Zille at an election rally in Promosa, Potchefstroom, March 27 2011

Yesterday, we launched our election campaign in Kliptown in Johannesburg. There, we released our manifesto which sets out the DA's plans for government in every town and city in South Africa.

We are thinking big in this election. We have big ideas about how to improve service delivery and create more jobs. And we have big ambitions to grow our party so that we can apply our winning formula in more and more places.

The big idea in the election is not race. The big idea in this election is delivery. And so the big question in this election is: which party delivers for all?

Our campaign will provide the answer to the question. And it starts right here in Promosa. I want to talk today about an issue that I know is close to your hearts. That is the issue of housing. I know that you are unhappy with the allocation of houses here. I hear that some people are jumping the queue and there has been corruption.

The DA takes the fair allocation of housing seriously. We believe in due process. We do not believe that politicians should be allowed to interfere with the waiting lists. Because then there is a temptation to favour their friends, or to use housing allocations to win votes. We say this is wrong.  We also know that officials can sometimes be corrupt.  This sometimes happens everywhere.  Where the DA governs, we are committed to fixing it.

In DA municipalities, we are working to developing a standard, transparent and fair process for selecting beneficiaries. We don't think it is right that people who have just moved to an area are prioritised over people who have lived there for years. We think that people living in backyards and people living in informal settlements should have the same rights to housing.

So, where the DA governs, we pay special attention to making housing allocation fairer and more transparent. When the DA took over the City of Cape Town in 2006, we inherited a housing waiting list of 334 000 people. The allocation of houses had become notorious for bribery and corruption. People were known to jump the queue. Some people were prioritized over others. Some people lied about their income so that they could qualify for a free house.  It was a mess.

We have been working for the past five years to make the allocation of housing fairer. We made sure that we respect the rights of the people who had been waiting for a house the longest - including one person who had been on the list since 1968.   We ensured that the housing budget was spread in a way that served all disadvantaged communities, so that both backyard dwellers and people living in informal settlements benefit. And we introduced transparency into the system by starting a website where beneficiaries can enter their name and ID number to confirm they are registered and on what date they registered.

These measures have gone a long way to make housing allocation fairer in Cape Town and the other places we govern. Of course, we are not perfect. Mistakes can happen. But when they do we try to fix them and we are moving in the right direction.

We can start to move things in the right direction here in Promosa if you turn out to vote on Election Day and you vote DA. If you have never voted DA before, now is your chance to make a change in your life. Now is your chance to discover the difference the DA can make.

So, whatever you do, make sure you vote on 18 May.

And Vote DA.

Because the DA delivers for all!

Issued by the Democratic Alliance, March 27 2011

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Election 2011: Delivering housing opportunities for all

The following is an extract from a speech delivered by DA Leader Helen Zille at an election rally in Promosa, Potchefstroom, March 27 2011

Yesterday, we launched our election campaign in Kliptown in Johannesburg. There, we released our manifesto which sets out the DA's plans for government in every town and city in South Africa.

We are thinking big in this election. We have big ideas about how to improve service delivery and create more jobs. And we have big ambitions to grow our party so that we can apply our winning formula in more and more places.

The big idea in the election is not race. The big idea in this election is delivery. And so the big question in this election is: which party delivers for all?

Our campaign will provide the answer to the question. And it starts right here in Promosa. I want to talk today about an issue that I know is close to your hearts. That is the issue of housing. I know that you are unhappy with the allocation of houses here. I hear that some people are jumping the queue and there has been corruption.

The DA takes the fair allocation of housing seriously. We believe in due process. We do not believe that politicians should be allowed to interfere with the waiting lists. Because then there is a temptation to favour their friends, or to use housing allocations to win votes. We say this is wrong.  We also know that officials can sometimes be corrupt.  This sometimes happens everywhere.  Where the DA governs, we are committed to fixing it.

In DA municipalities, we are working to developing a standard, transparent and fair process for selecting beneficiaries. We don't think it is right that people who have just moved to an area are prioritised over people who have lived there for years. We think that people living in backyards and people living in informal settlements should have the same rights to housing.

So, where the DA governs, we pay special attention to making housing allocation fairer and more transparent. When the DA took over the City of Cape Town in 2006, we inherited a housing waiting list of 334 000 people. The allocation of houses had become notorious for bribery and corruption. People were known to jump the queue. Some people were prioritized over others. Some people lied about their income so that they could qualify for a free house.  It was a mess.

We have been working for the past five years to make the allocation of housing fairer. We made sure that we respect the rights of the people who had been waiting for a house the longest - including one person who had been on the list since 1968.   We ensured that the housing budget was spread in a way that served all disadvantaged communities, so that both backyard dwellers and people living in informal settlements benefit. And we introduced transparency into the system by starting a website where beneficiaries can enter their name and ID number to confirm they are registered and on what date they registered.

These measures have gone a long way to make housing allocation fairer in Cape Town and the other places we govern. Of course, we are not perfect. Mistakes can happen. But when they do we try to fix them and we are moving in the right direction.

We can start to move things in the right direction here in Promosa if you turn out to vote on Election Day and you vote DA. If you have never voted DA before, now is your chance to make a change in your life. Now is your chance to discover the difference the DA can make.

So, whatever you do, make sure you vote on 18 May.

And Vote DA.

Because the DA delivers for all!

Issued by the Democratic Alliance, March 27 2011

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter