Time to take Tshwane back from those who want to destroy it

27 June 2016

My fellow South Africans,

Today is meant to be a good day. It is meant to be a celebration of the DA’s manifesto for the City of Tshwane – our blueprint for turning this city into a thriving centre of opportunity for its people.

But how can we be happy on a day like this? How can we be happy when our capital city is burning, and when people here are losing their lives? How can we stand by and watch those with selfish agendas destroy this city and destroy the communities that you call home?

We cannot stand by and watch as this happens, and we will not. This city belongs to the people of Tshwane. It doesn’t belong to factions of the ANC. It doesn’t belong to Luthuli House, to Sputla Ramokgopa or to Thoko Didiza.

This city belongs to you, and you must take it back.

I call on President Zuma to do what any real leader should do in times like this: Be present and restore peace. Come and speak to the people of Tshwane and try to bring calm to the situation.

We are just over a month away from crucial municipal elections. We cannot let the ANC’s internal battles threaten these elections. We cannot allow the to ANC compromise an election they are going to lose.

What you are seeing on the streets of Soshanguve, Atteridgeville and Mamelodi is not just thuggery, as the ANC Secretary-General would like us to believe.

These are not individuals venting their frustration, and they are not just criminals taking advantage of the situation. This is a planned campaign by one faction of the ANC against another faction of the ANC. And the idea is to cause as much chaos as possible.

One of the most disturbing sde-effects of this ANC factional battle is the emergence of a dangerous tribalism, ominously reminiscent of the violence of the early 90’s in the build-up to our first democratic election.

When people start claiming that Thoko Didiza, as a Zulu woman from KZN, is not welcome as a Mayoral candidate in Tshwane, it should set the alarm bells ringing. We can never return to the violence that marred those early days of our transition, and we must all condemn such statements and actions in the strongest possible terms.

Of course Mr Mantashe can’t bring himself to say it, but we are seeing a party at war with itself, and that war has spilled over onto your streets. This is a battle that has nothing to do with you, but you are expected to pay the price.

The buses that stand burnt out on these streets – those are the buses you must use every day.

The shops that stand smashed and looted – those are the shops where you buy the things you need to get by every day.

The streets that stand littered with rubble and burning tyres – those are your streets, your neighbourhoods, your communities.

This is your city, and the government should serve you. You shouldn’t be the victims when a cadre is parachuted in from outside to contest the top job in the city.

And you shouldn’t be the victims when this cadre deployment threatens the comfortable network of patronage and corruption that already exists in this city. You shouldn’t be the victims, and you don’t have to be.

The people of this city stand before a very important choice. And this choice is not between these two warring ANC factions.

The choice is not between Sputla Ramokgopa and Thoko Didiza. Because they are just two sides of the same coin. They both represent the politics of greed and patronage that has crippled this city.

No, your choice is between the corruption, violence and neglect of the ANC on the one hand, and a new, clean chapter for the City of Tshwane. A chapter built around accountability, transparency and clean governance.

In just over a month you will have the best chance to let this ANC government know how you feel about their internal wars and their and their politics of greed.

Our democracy is alive and well, and your vote is more powerful than any form of protest. Your vote sends a message that no leader can possibly ignore.

Today we launch our election manifesto here in Tshwane. What this manifesto is, is a collection of promises – things that we pledge to do for the City of Tshwane once we are in government here.

The man standing next to me here – your next Mayor of Tshwane, Solly Msimanga – wants you to remember these promises and hold the DA to them. He wants to be held responsible for everything we pledge in this manifesto, because that’s how a democracy should work.

These can’t just be things we say to get votes, because then you’d vote us out of government at the very next election. These must be goals that can be measured and judged. That’s what accountability is about.

In 2006 we promised the people of Cape Town the exact same thing. We said: give us a chance to clean up the ANC’s mess in the city. Give us five years to turn Cape Town around, and then judge us on the promises we made when you go to cast your next vote.

And that’s just what they did. By the next election in 2011, the people of Cape Town put their faith in the DA to continue making progress in the city. They made it very clear that they will never go back to an ANC government.

You now need to do the same for the City of Tshwane. And you can’t wait – you must act now, on 3 August. The ANC wars will destroy this city if you don’t stop them. We’ve already seen this internal election violence start to spread to other cities, and it is up to all of us to stop it.

I know the problems you face here in communities like Soshanguve. I have seen the RDP houses falling apart. I have seen these housing projects standing half-built. I have heard the stories about insufficient funds to finish these houses.

But let me tell you why there are insufficient funds. It’s not because there was no budget to begin with. It’s because the ANC government in this city cannot look after your money.

In the last financial year, this city lost R785 million to unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure. That’s more than three-quarters of a billion Rand that should have gone towards service delivery, housing and infrastructure.

To give you an idea of the difference between a DA government and an ANC government – In the DA-run City of Cape Town, the amount lost to unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure last year was zero.

Which means the money that belongs to the people, was spent on the people. It didn’t go missing or end up in someone’s pocket.

In Cape Town, the housing lists are managed transparently, the awarding of tenders is done transparently and the allocation of EPWP jobs is done transparently. Because when everyone can see what’s going on, there is no way for corrupt officials to cheat and steal.

And that’s what you will get here in Tshwane under Solly Msimanga’s DA government. You will get a local government that answers to you, a local government that respects and protects your public money, and a local government that works hard to improve your quality of life.

You will get a local government that does everything in its power to get the local economy growing again so that you and your children can find jobs here.

And you will get a local government that believes that every challenge has a peaceful solution. A government that will never turn to violence when things don’t go its way.

That’s the kind of government you deserve here in Tshwane. Now let’s go out on 3 August and make it happen.

Thank you.

Issued by Mabine Seabe, Spokesperson to the DA Leader, 27 June 2016