Federal Council adopts 2019 programme of action
Note to Editors: The following statement was delivered by the DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane MP, at a media briefing on the outcomes of the Party’s first Federal Council of 2017, which was held in Cape Town. The Leader was joined by the Chairperson of the DA’s Federal Council, James Selfe MP, and the DA’s National Spokesperson, Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL.
Over the past two days, the Federal Council of the Democratic Alliance (DA) – the party’s highest decision making body between Federal Congress - convened in Cape Town for its first sitting of 2017. The agenda comprised of a number of pressing matters concerning the country and the Party. This press briefing serves to communicate the outcomes of the weekend’s sitting.
Rescue Mission for the Lost Generation and Tour:
On Wednesday I outlined our Rescue Mission for the Lost Generation, which forms a central part of the DA’s programme of action going into 2019. The Rescue Mission speaks to a generation of young, mainly black South Africans, aged 15 – 24, who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), making it difficult for them to meaningfully participate in the country’s economy. There are now more than 3 million of these young people. No matter how one looks at this number, it is a crisis which the ANC neither has the will nor the capacity to deal with.
The Rescue Mission focuses on two aspects, namely Skills for Jobs in order to equip young people for employment; and Rapid Growth, which focuses on creating an economic environment that is able to absorb those equipped with skills.
The Federal Council has given this programme of action its full backing by adopting a motion that dedicates the programme of action for 2017, and all of the preparatory work leading to 2019, to the Lost Generation. The Motion reads as follows:
As the Federal Council of the DA, we dedicate 2017 to South Africa’s lost generation, the millions of young, mainly black South Africans who have suffered decades of failed education and who are still locked out of economic opportunity. They are let down by corruption, live in fear of crime, and are skeptical that a more hopeful future is possible. We dedicate ourselves to being an organisation that cares for, fights for, governs for and represents these South Africans. All of our preparations for winning government in 2019, all of our actions in government now, in all that we do, we will strive to be the authentic voice of this lost generation, to see it is as our purpose and mission to improve the life chances of this lost generation.
#Change19 Tour
In the coming weeks, I will be travelling around South Africa to discuss the Rescue Mission with the young people of the lost generation directly, under the banner of #Change19. We want the lost generation of South Africans to have an authentic voice in our preparations for government, and we want them to know that when we govern, we will have a plan to end their exclusion from opportunity and improve their life chances.
The 2016 election results represented a deep political shift in South Africa, where the message of change through the ballot box was received and endorsed by people across the country. We know that change in 2019 is up to us, and we spent a lot of time this weekend discussing the work that will have to be done by our branch structures over the coming 2 years. We will have to have personal contact and connection with millions of South Africans who have not voted for the DA before, and this can only be done if we start right now. Our canvasser training, door-to-door canvassing and house meetings must start now. We will be training thousands of activists, and recruiting tens of thousands of new volunteers, in order to achieve our objectives.
We will make further announcements about the tour launch and its programme.
Detailing the State of our Cities:
Federal Council resolved that we will require DA Mayors in newly-won Metros and Municipalities to fully brief the public and the media on the details of what we have found in those administrations, especially in relation to the financial situation and the state of service delivery. Many of these metros and councils have inherited truly parlous finances, including cash flow shortages and liquidity concerns, very poor debtor management, misuse of funds intended for new capital expenditure for operational expenditure, and evidence of widespread misappropriation and corruption. This has also left basic service delivery capacities hobbled by funding shortages.
While our Mayors and their Mayoral Committees, and the many dedicated civil servants, have done good work thus far to turn this situation around, there is an enormous amount of work yet to do. Federal Council felt that it was important to spend more time providing the media and public with more detailed information of what we have found, and what is being done to turn it around.
Concern on Increase in Ultra-Violent Crime:
The DA has campaigned for the reintroduction of specialised units for many years, after they were indefensibly scrapped in 2001. We therefore welcome the announcement by President Zuma on Thursday that some specialised units will indeed be reintroduced. It is sad that it has taken 16 years for the government to see what should have been obvious - that specialised units have proven to be extremely effective in fighting the categories of crimes on which they are focused.
We will however continue to campaign for the reintroduction of specialised rural safety units, and wish to express our concern that the noticeable spike in extremely violent crimes in rural areas, often targeting farmers and farmworkers. Cases of farmers being tortured in gruesome ways, sometimes without any evidence of an accompanying robbery, must concern all South Africans. Rural communities need specialised patrol and investigative capacity, and it is unfortunate that the President did not use the opportunity of the re-establishment of other specialised units to include rural safety units.
The State of the Nation Address:
The Federal Council discussed the events which unfolded on the Parliamentary Precinct during Thursday evening’s State of the Nation Address. More so than ever, we feel the urgency for political change in South Africa. Thursday’s events were a keen reminder to the Party that if South Africa is to become the country that we know it can be, it will be the DA that will deliver it. It is up to all of those who share a love for the country and tireless hope for its future to do it together. We are pioneering that change through DA-led coalition governments in many towns and cities. That co-operation model must deliver real and noticeable service improvement for the poor, so that they can see what is possible with a change in government.
On Friday morning we announced court action to declare the presence of the army in the Parliamentary Precinct, the excessive security arrangements, and the excessive use of force, illegal and unconstitutional. However, Federal Council resolved that as the DA we will lead by example when it comes to state events. Federal Council passed a resolution to the effect that wherever the DA is in government we will differentiate ourselves from the excess and waste of the ANC, in particular in our hosting of State of the Province or State of the City events. We resolve that under DA governments there should be no ostentatious fanfare, excess and wasteful luxury at all, and no security arrangements that inconvenience the public, or delay public transport or traffic, or restrict the freedom of movement of the public and the media. We will be known in government for our respect for public funds, and our eschewing of status and ceremony.
As for the speech itself, it was weak, uninspiring and racially divisive, devoid of any new ideas on how to free our young people from the shackles of joblessness and hopelessness.
We will respond in full to the President’s speech in the SONA debate, scheduled for Tuesdayand Wednesday next week.
Hate Crimes Bill:
Federal Council endorsed the decision to oppose the ANC’s Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill (The “Hate Crimes Bill”), and to introduce our own Bill, which seeks to root out the scourge of hateful speech in our society in a workable and Constitutional manner.
There is no absolutely doubt that more needs to be done to curb racial hatred and hate speech in South Africa. It is our view that the ANC’s “Hate Crimes Bill” does not tackle hateful speech in a manner which is envisaged by our Constitution. Rather the government’s Bill introduces unjustifiable limitations on the enshrined right to free expression. The Bill goes well beyond the limitation of rights clause in section 36 of the Constitution, and for this reason we believe it will certainly not pass constitutional muster and will be struck down.
The need to combat hate speech and promote the right to dignity in section 10 of our Constitution must be balanced with the right to freedom of expression contained in section 16 of our Constitution. Both these rights are fundamental Constitutional rights which were not protected or upheld prior to 1994. It is therefore crucial that we find a reasonable and workable balance between these two fundamental rights. We believe our Bill will do just that.
Our Bill is currently with Parliament’s legal advisors, and will be finalised and tabled before Parliament within the next month. Once finalised, it will be released for public comment and consideration.
The DA remains the only Party engaged in the project of building a reconciled and fair South Africa, and we will not allow racists to reverse the progress made in this regard.
Provincial Leadership Elections:
Federal Council has noted that two of the party’s Provincial Leaders, Athol Trollip of the Eastern Cape, and Patricia De Lille of the Western Cape, have taken a decision to step down as leaders of their respective provinces.
Patricia De Lille and Athol Trollip are the incumbent Executive Mayors of the DA-run cities of Cape Town and Nelson Mandela Bay respectively, and their decision to step down from multiple roles in order to focus on the work of governing those metro’s well and delivering services to our people must be applauded.
Federal Council would like to thank both Patricia De Lille and Athol Trollip for their years of serve to their respective provinces, and we look forward to welcoming two new DA provincial leaders once elected.
A new DA Western Cape Provincial Leader will be elected at the next Provincial Council, which is scheduled for later this month, on 25 February. Similarly, delegates from the Eastern Cape will elected a new DA Eastern Cape Provincial Leader at its Provincial Congress on 10 March 2016.
Conclusion:
With every major political event South Africa’s political ground shifts, making the possibility of the DA entering the Union Buildings in 2019. This therefore means that the Party will be in campaign mode between now and 2019. South Africa’s time is running out under the ANC. We are not up against a Party of ideas, intellect or compassion, we are up against a visionless, corrupt and uncaring ANC.
The DA has a lot of work to do, over the next few years and our structures are alive to the hard task ahead of us. We are not doing what we do for the sake of governing; we are working to build a better country for all its people.
Issued by the DA, 12 February 2017
