South Africa can't trust the ANC and Zuma 

18 April 2016

The launch of the ANC’s Local Government Elections Manifesto made it clear that the people of South Africa have lost confidence not only in President Zuma, but in the ANC as a whole. The ANC has changed. It is no longer the proud party it was under Nelson Mandela. It cares only about putting the connected elite first. 

This is because the ANC has been overrun  by the cancer of corruption that stems from President Zuma at the top, down to councillors such as Truman Prince, who treat their position of power as a ticket to pillage the state for personal gain. 

The people can't trust the ANC on its promises, because it breaks them on a daily basis.

Indeed, how could the people trust Jacob Zuma and his ANC when he said he would get rid of corrupt officials, when he himself has 783 unanswered charges of corruption, fraud and racketeering against him?

How could the people trust Jacob Zuma and his ANC when he said he would grow the economy, when the policy uncertainty he has created during his term of office, has put South Africa at the brink of a ratings downgrade and more than a million more people are unemployed than when he came to office?

How could the people trust Jacob Zuma to deliver services, when in Nelson Mandela Bay itself, tens of thousands of bucket toilets exist - nearly 22 years since our hard fought democracy was established?

And how could the people trust Jacob Zuma and his ANC to uphold the constitution, when the Constitutional Court, the highest court in the land, ruled that he had failed to uphold and protect the Constitution - as his oath of office requires him to do?

The answer is simple. The ANC cannot be trusted because it breaks every promise it makes so that those connected at the top can benefit at the expense of 8.2 million South Africans.

South Africa needs radical change so that we can walk the talk and put South Africa on the right track again and move our great country forward. 

This is the real change that the DA plans to bring if we are elected to government on 3 May 2016. It is change that stops corruption, that delivers better services and which creates more jobs. And we can be trusted because we deliver on what we promise where we do govern.

The DA runs clean governments. The DA run Western Cape has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, and we spend more than 67% of our budget in the DA run City of Cape Town on poor communities. This is the change we want to bring to the rest of South Africa.

This weekend, when we launch our manifesto, we will reinforce our commitment to the people of South Africa to strive to build an inclusive, non-racial South Africa with opportunities for all.

And we will mean it, from the bottom of our hearts. Because we always want to put South Africa first. 

It is now time  for South Africans to do their part and help put South Africa first by voting for a party that is committed to delivering on its promises; a party that is committed to the betterment of South Africa and its people.

Issued by Refiloe Nt'sekhe, DA National Spokensperson, 18 April 2016