Stats SA confirms that DA government creates most jobs in SA!

Note to Editors: This is the text of a speech delivered by Helen Zille at a DA rally in Missionvale, Port Elizabeth today.

Democrats, fellow South Africans,

There are two days to go until Election Day.

This Wednesday you have an opportunity to change South Africa for the better.

In this election, political parties have been saying lots of different things. But there is one issue that is more important than any other: REAL JOBS.

Jacob Zuma's speech on Sunday showed that he has no plan to create real jobs. He talks about things that the government has already done, and which have failed. He promised 5 million jobs in 2009, and today there are 1.4 million more unemployed people.

Where the DA governs we manage the economy properly and cut corruption, so that thousands of new jobs are created. That's why where the DA governs, unemployment is the lowest in South Africa. It's also why a report of the LED Network recently found that the DA-governed City of Cape Town is the most inclusive economy in the whole of South Africa.

And here is some significant news that we've just received. This morning, Stats SA released the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey. It contains a stunning confirmation of what the DA has been saying in this election: that where the DA governs, we create jobs! The report shows that the DA government in the Western Cape has created 146 000 jobs over the last year, far more than all of the other provinces, more than double what the ANC governments created in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape (see here - PDF).

But even more crucially, the DA government has reduced unemployment by the most of all the provinces. Where the DA governs, unemployment has decreased significantly - by 2.2% - in the last year, while unemployment nationally has increased marginally by 0.2%. In Gauteng, unemployment has increased by 0.6%. 

If you want a growing economy that creates real jobs and expands opportunities to more people; if you want improved service delivery without corruption, then on Wednesday you should cast your vote for the DA.

More and more South Africans who want the best for the future are making that choice.

If we could get the economy growing and create millions of jobs, there is no limit on what South Africans can achieve, together. We can give our children a quality education. We can look after the poor and the elderly. We can address inequality and bring millions of people out of poverty. We can build modern infrastructure in a job creating economy. We can support entrepreneurs.

But if we do not get the economy growing and create jobs, none of this is possible.

It does not matter who you are, how talented you are or where you come from, whether you are black or white, educated or not educated. If you do not have a job you cannot begin to build a better life for yourself or your family.

That is why the DA works day and night to get the economy growing, wherever voters choose us to govern. Where voters give the DA a chance, we never rest on what we delivered last month or last year, we are always trying to do even better tomorrow.

On Wednesday, each and every South African can make history with their vote! Every vote for the DA will help to make our country a much better place. It will help to end corruption, to start job creating economic growth, to provide guaranteed university funding to all qualifying matrics, and one million internships for people looking to get their first job. It will be a vote for change, a vote for jobs.

The choice is straightforward; it's a no-brainer.

There are two big questions which you must ask on Wednesday:  ‘Are your living standards better than they were five years ago?' And ‘Will your children's chances in life improve with another five years of Jacob Zuma's ANC?

If, like most South Africans, the answer to those two questions is ‘no', then vote DA on 7 May.

If you want a government that has a credible plan to create six million real jobs, then vote DA on 7 May.

If you want a government that is serious about stopping corruption, and that will serve the people first, then vote DA on 7 May.

Stand together with the DA on 7 May. Together for Change, Together for Jobs.

Issued by the DA, May 5 2014

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