Cities for Jobs: There can be no freedom without work

21 July 2016

Democrats, 

Fellow South Africans,

Today we are here in the Capital City to launch our Cities for Jobs document, which is the DA’s blueprint for change that will bring jobs and economic growth to cities all across South Africa. 

This is the third and last in a series of comprehensive and articulate plans of action the DA has put before the people of South Africa ahead of the August 3 election. I was here in Tshwane last month, where we launched the Corruption-Free Cities document. And just two days ago I launched the Cities Delivering Better Services document in Nelson Mandela Bay.

These three documents lay out the DA’s Manifesto for Change that will create jobs, stop corruption, and deliver better services to all South Africans.

The Cities for Jobs plan that we launch today is of utmost importance for the upcoming elections, and for the future of South Africa.

While the struggle pre-1994 was to secure political rights and freedoms, the struggle post-1994 is the struggle for jobs and employment. Political freedom has been attained, yet economic freedom is still a pipedream for the 8.9 million jobless South Africans - 5.9 million under the age of 35. And things are set to get worse. Unless we make some bold changes, there will soon be over 9 million unemployed people with over 6 million of them being young people.

We need change, and we need it fast. 

The Cities for Jobs document before us today is our plan to bring that change, by creating jobs at local government level. 

Local governments – and particularly the governments of our big metros – have a bigger role to play in beating unemployment than any other level of government. Local governments create the conditions that make businesses either invest in an area, or look elsewhere to grow their business.

Fellow Democrats,

Cities ought to be hubs of development, innovation and growth, yet instead, we are experiencing a jobs scarcity in South Africa of unprecedented proportions.

The Cities for Jobs document is based on our successes where we govern, including the City of Cape Town and Midvaal right here in Gauteng.

Only the DA understands what is needed to turn our cities into job-creating investment hubs. Which is why the DA-run City of Cape Town has the lowest unemployment figures of all our Metros.

This is also why the DA-run Midvaal municipality has an unemployment rate that is less than half the rate of the rest of Gauteng.

Therefore it is an absolute misnomer that jobs cannot be created at local government level. The ANC will have you believe that the perpetual jobs crisis our country is currently facing is solely due to “global conditions”, yet where we govern the facts suggest otherwise.

In fact, where we govern, jobs are being created. the number of employed persons in Cape Town increased by 4,000 in the first 3 months of the year, whereas the number of employed persons decreased by 111,000 and 14,000 in Ekurhuleni and Buffalo City, respectively.

The document we launch today sets out a collections of policies and positions which – when implemented as a whole – will bring significant growth and job creation in cities across South Africa. This document speaks to the DA’s offer to create more jobs through innovative local government policies in three key ways. 

Firstly, by providing individuals and businesses with key growth enablers such as housing solutions, reliable public transport and improved ICT access as well as honest governance and infrastructure-led growth.

Housing: The DA believes that improving the quality of life in our human settlements requires a focus on providing housing opportunities in well-located areas close to economic opportunity with access to public transport, recreational amenities and community facilities. Increasing housing opportunities means improving people’s chances of finding and keeping a job. It reduces the distance workers have to travel every day and their transport costs, and minimises the time people spend away from their families.

Further to this, cities and towns governed by the DA have recognised the urgent need for speeding up title deed delivery.

Public Transport: In the absence of reliable, state-sponsored public transport, too many South Africans are reliant on costly, burdensome and often unsafe transport options provided by private operators. Those lucky enough to have a job are forced to spend a significant portion of their income on commuting. For the millions of unemployed South Africans hoping to access education and/or work opportunities, the cost of transport often present an agonising financial trade-off and limits their ability to pursue opportunities. These problems are only exacerbated by the legacy of apartheid spatial planning that forces poor South Africans to live great distances from job opportunities and public facilities. Economic activity is disrupted by late or absent workers, and the competitive advantage of South African businesses is eroded.

Technology and Innovation: Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has tremendous potential for overcoming structural barriers and connecting people with education and employment opportunities. It allows people the freedom to access information and government services, trade, stay connected, and innovate. The DA believes that easy access to the economic and personal benefits associated with ICT accelerates inclusion and is critical to creating more jobs and economic growth. Technology is a vital component in any strategy to create jobs and boost the prospects of jobseekers.

To this end, DA-run local governments have prioritised investment in ICT and improved access to broadband for all people living where we govern.

Honest Government: Good governance at local government level requires the effective management of available resources and clear accountability to residents. As a country, we face enormous development and service delivery challenges, compounded by high levels of joblessness and crime. Efficient and responsive governments must create an enabling environment for private sector activity in support of growth and increased job creation. Local governments, with the necessary political will, can ensure that resources are used in service of residents and to attract job creating investment.

Infrastructure-Led Growth: DA-led governments are committed to infrastructure-led growth and providing an environment conducive to private sector investment that creates jobs. Local economic development requires continual investment in ICT, transport, roads and water infrastructure, in particular.

Secondly, by making it easier for businesses to start and grow, including by simplifying and reducing local government regulation.

DA local governments have repealed apartheid-era policies, structure plans, by-laws and other procedures which contradict our commitment to freedom and fairness and which sought to restrict and overburden individuals and entrepreneurs who try to start and grow their own small businesses. We plan to emulate this in every city we govern.

The Central City Development Strategy (CCDS) is an example of antiquated plans and policies being scrapped in favour of a multifaceted policy strategy which includes partnerships with businesses to create sustainable industries and ensure job creation.

In addition to this, the Western Cape’s Red Tape Reduction Unit is mandated to assist and collaborate with municipalities with regards to their Local Red Tape Reduction (LRTR) efforts.

Similarly, the DA-run Midvaal Municipality has worked hard to attract job-creating investment by reducing red tape. Increasing the accessibility of senior officials and public representatives gave businesses, such as Heineken, Nampak and Everite, the assurance that the municipality will be responsive to their needs and concerns. This has contributed to Midvaal becoming an economic success with the lowest unemployment rate in Gauteng

Another key way we make it easier for businesses to grow is by creating jobs through air and open tender processes. In the City of Cape Town, when tenders are being adjudicated by the Bid Adjudication Committee, the meetings are open to the public – the City was the first municipality to do this in South Africa. These meeting are advertised on the City’s website. The City has also ensured that technology is used effectively and that online bidding and computerised supply chain management is accessible and streamlined

The opening up of new and more accessible ways of advertising and applying for tenders has resulted in the number of B-BBEE certified vendors on the City’s vendor list increased by 190% between March 2013 and March 2016[1]. The use of B-BBEE compliant companies for the provision of goods and services has increased from 76% in early 2013 to 88% in March 2016. 

And thirdly, by assisting small and micro enterprises in the informal economy by, among others, ensuring the sector is included in Local Economic Development planning and Integrated Development Planning.

Information is power and the DA is committed to establishing Local Economic Development (LED) one-stopshops and e-systems to provide information on investment opportunities, licensing, land use, planning approval procedures, regulatory compliance investor information and business start-up advice to drive and promote jobcreating investment. 

The DA recognises that the effective use of technology can offer vulnerable people a hand up out of poverty by assisting them with skills development and providing training and support, in partnership with the private sector, and give disadvantaged South Africans and small business owners a real chance of success.

We as the DA are clear in our belief that it is individuals, no government, who create jobs, growth and employment. That is true freedom.

The freedom to develop an idea and start your own business. 

The freedom to find a job, and to work towards your dreams.

From the elderly lady in Soshanguve you wants to grow who tuckshop to the young man in Zandspruit who dreams of producing music to sell to the world. By unlocking opportunities, where unlocking growth and development of industries.       

The role of government is to make it easier for individuals to experience such freedom, and not to limit it. 

Everyone has a right to earn a living, accumulate wealth, live where we want, love who we want, say what we believe, develop our talents and pursue our dreams. But without a job, we can never realise these freedoms.

Come 3 August, South Africans will have the choice to make – more of the same, or change that creates jobs, stops corruption, delivers better services, and ultimately moves South Africa forward again.

Issued by Mabine Seabe, Spokesperson to the DA Leader, 21 July 2016