A strong DA can rescue KwaZulu-Natal

22 May 2024

Note to Editors: The following speech was delivered this evening by the Leader of the Democratic Alliance, John Steenhuisen, during a public meeting in Phoenix, KwaZulu-Natal. 

Pictures are attached here, here, and here.

My fellow South Africans,

It is always a privilege to be in Phoenix, a community I grew to love in the days when I was a councillor in Durban.

Phoenix is home to hard-working, committed and innovative South Africans, who have found ways to build businesses and strong communities, even in the face of the decline created by the ANC.

The people of this community are strong and resilient, but they have been let down by a government that has betrayed them for the past three decades.

Just take the water crisis that plagues Phoenix, Verulam and Tongaat.

It is an assault on the dignity of every resident when you open your taps and no clean, running water comes out.

Human beings cannot live without water, yet the ANC simply does not care.

They have long ago turned their backs on the people.

But I am here today with a clear message.

That it doesn’t have to be this way.

On the 29th of May, the people of this province can make history by electing a new government, anchored by the DA, that can rescue KwaZulu-Natal.

If you need proof, just look at the fact that the DA is the only party that is fighting to resolve the water crisis in this area.

The DA has fought for you in the courts, we have fought for you in the streets, and we have fought for you in Parliament.

Now, for the first time in thirty years, you now have the power to elect the DA into government, so that we can fight for you from the Union Buildings.

For the first time ever, the ANC is set to crash below 50% in this election, both nationally and in KZN.

This means that, for the first time in thirty years, the DA can win.

United with our partners in the Multi-Party Charter, the DA has a clear path to victory.

Looking back on the 29th of May years from now, it will be clear how we should have voted.

Hindsight brings clarity, but only foresight can save lives and prevent suffering.

Because, even though some parties are treating the election campaign as a game with their cheap stunts, this election is deadly serious.

Our future depends on it.

So, we need to ask ourselves two serious questions.

Which party is most likely to deliver jobs, clean water, reliable electricity, quality schooling and healthcare and safe communities for Phoenix, KwaZulu-Natal and the whole South Africa?

And which party is the best defence against a Doomsday Coalition between the ANC, the EFF, MK, propped up by parties like the Patriotic Alliance?

These are the only two serious questions that matter in this election.

And the answer to both questions is clear: only a strong Democratic Alliance can rescue South Africa!

Because actions speak louder than words.

The DA is the only political party in this election with a proud, sustained track record of delivery in government.

Where we govern, in places like the Western Cape, uMngeni, Cape Town, Tshwane and Midvaal, we already demonstrate our ability to turn our manifesto pledges into reality.

Take our pledge to create two million new jobs.

DA-run Cape Town has added 316 000 jobs since the start of the local government term in 2021.

If we can create this many jobs in municipalities we govern even while the corrupt ANC is still in power nationally, just imagine what we can do with the DA in national government!

While the ANC condemns people to unemployment through race quotas and cadre deployment, the DA-run Western Cape has the lowest unemployment rate in the country because we follow the rules and provide a fair playing field for everyone.

That just goes to show: things don’t have to be this way.

A better way under the DA is possible.

And it’s not just Cape Town and the Western Cape.

Right here in KZN, the people of uMngeni elected the DA into power in 2021.

Within just twelve months of taking power, the DA has already achieved two clean audits and using public money to deliver for the people, after rooting out decades of ANC corruption in uMngeni.

The DA is the only party in South Africa that can provide hard evidence that taxpayer money will be spent on the public.

Just think about it.

While the ANC looted Eskom, looted municipalities, and looted our futures, every single one of the departments in the DA-run Western Cape government achieved a 100% clean audit last year.

Not a single cent of taxpayer money was misspent in that entire provincial government.

Just compare that to what you currently have here in KZN, where the ANC treats the rates and taxes you pay as their personal slush fund.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

The DA is the only party that delivers for the people, because we do not tolerate corruption and we do not steal the people’s money.

The pledge in our manifesto to end load-shedding and water-shedding is similarly credible, because we are already doing it where we govern.

The City of Cape Town already protects residents from up to two stages of load-shedding, and pays households and businesses cash for the excess energy they produce.

We can do the same thing right here in KZN – if the people of Phoenix turn out to vote for the DA!

A new government anchored by the DA, will also halve the rate violent crime, including murder and attempted murder, within one term in office.

Again, this is not an empty promise.

We are already doing it where people entrusted us with their vote.

The LEAP programme in the Western Cape has deployed 1 200 additional law enforcement officers where the SAPS, which is run by the national ANC government, has failed.

LEAP has already made over 27 000 arrests and took hundreds of illegal firearms off the streets.

Just imagine how much safer your community will be if we do the same here in KZN.

And, with the ANC on the way out, there’s no reason why we can’t do it here too.

All it takes is for you to draw your cross next to the DA on the 29th of May, and you too can get thousands of more boots on the ground to stamp out crime!

My fellow South Africans,

The DA rescued Cape Town, we rescued the Western Cape, we rescued Midvaal in Gauteng, we rescued Kouga in the Eastern Cape and we rescued uMngeni in this province.

The DA is the only party with a track record of rescuing communities from the ANC wherever people vote for us.

That is why we are confident in declaring that a strong DA can rescue KwaZulu-Natal.

And a strong DA can rescue South Africa.

On the 29th of May, we are asking the people of Phoenix, and of KZN, to help make the DA as strong as possible.

The truth is that no one can truly predict what South Africa’s next government will look like, now that the ANC is about to lose its majority.

But the one thing I do know for certain, is that the stronger voters make the DA, the better our chances of rescuing South Africa and preventing the Doomsday Coalition between the ANC, the EFF and MK.

A government between these parties will expropriate property without compensation and plunge us into economic hardship like we see in Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

We cannot let this happen, which is why we must all unite behind the DA to protect South Africa from this coalition.

Even amidst the uncertainty of this election, there is one thing I know with all my heart and soul.

That the Democratic Alliance loves this country.

Despite all the hardship, despite all the corruption, and despite all the crime that the ANC has inflicted upon us, the DA will never, ever give up on South Africa.

We have the most wonderful people on earth.

We have the most beautiful country on the planet.

We are the warmest, most talented and most resilient nation in the world.

The only thing holding us back from reaching the great heights we are capable of, is a government that has betrayed us.

But the DA marches resolutely to the election on 29 May, because we know that the time for change has come.

We know that the people of Phoenix, of KZN, and of South Africa will not allow a Doomsday Coalition between the ANC, EFF and MK to destroy our future.

We know that the people of this beautiful land are ready to unite to build a strong DA, to form a new government that can rescue South Africa.

What our country needs now, is a government that is on the side of the people.

A government that cares, that governs well, that plays by the rules, and that treats every South African fairly and with dignity.

The DA is the only party that can deliver on this vision, because we are the only party that is already doing it wherever voters have elected us to govern.

If this is the future you want, then use the power of your vote to elect the DA to govern KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa on the 29th of May.

By doing so, you will be making history, by being part of the generation that rescued South Africa from corruption and decline.

By voting for the DA, you will be able to tell your grand-children one day that you were part of the rescue mission that turned this beautiful country into the winning nation it deserves to be.

A strong DA can rescue South Africa.

We can do it.

We must do it.

And, together, we will do it.

Thank you.

Issued by John Steenhuisen, Leader of the Democratic Alliance, 22 May 2024