We cannot allow young lives to be stolen away from us

10 October 2015

Note to Editors: The following remarks were made on Saturday by DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane MP, outside the Eldorado Park Police Station where the DA submitted a memorandum to SAPS against drug related crime in the area. Maimane was joined by Western Cape Premier, Helen Zille, Constituency Head, Makashule Gana MP, and Ward Councillor,Peter Rafferty.

My fellow South Africans,

I’d like to know if the following words sound familiar to any of you:

“We won't make promises and not act. We will act. I will drive the programme myself,"

Those aren’t my words. Those were the words of President Jacob Zuma to you as he stood in this very community more than two years ago. Responding to a letter from a desperate mother who was losing her son to Tik addiction, he came here and said all the right things.

When the president came to see you, it was exactly one year before the election. He was on the campaign trail, and he would say whatever you wanted to hear. He would sound concerned for your children. He would sound angry at the drug dealers. He would sound frustrated at the slow pace of justice.

But two years down the line nothing has changed here in Eldorado Park. President Zuma did not act on his promise. He got back in his car and forget about you.

I don’t blame any of you for believing him. When your community is under daily attack – when your young children are being stolen away from you by drug dealers – you will cling to any hope of saving them.

I am a father myself. I know what it means to raise children in a world where you fear for their future. I would do anything to keep my children away from danger, and I know that you would too. Raising your children in a community where evil people prey on them daily must surely be the hardest thing in the world.

Our instinct to protect our children is the strongest of all our instincts. I know that most of you would walk through fire for your children. But the threat of drugs and gangs is not like a fire. It is not something you alone can save them from. And it is a battle that often leaves you feeling powerless and frustrated.

Beating drugs and gangs is a fight that requires all of society to join in. It begins at home, it continues in the schools and the churches and it is driven by a strong and caring government. A government that is present. A government that listens and acts. A government that realises that it has a huge responsibility to protect you and your families.

That is not the government of President Zuma who made promises to you back in 2013, but has failed to keep them.

When President Zuma was here, he spoke about increasing the capacity of the local police stations and providing more vehicles. This didn’t happen.

He spoke about turning this community into an economic hub – about factories and jobs. That hasn’t happened.

He spoke about closing down drug dens that operate from provincial and council housing. But they’re still operating from these properties.

What happened to the office of the National Youth Development Agency that was opened here? Nothing. It remains locked and empty.

What happened to the programme of putting 120 children through college at Westcol in Randfontein? They were left alone with no transport and within three months this programme fell flat.

Promises are broken the moment they’re made. Programmes fail. Lolly lounges open up again. Drug dealers don’t remain behind bars. And your children must face them day in and day out.

Well I’m saying to you today: they don’t have to. You can take back Eldorado Park from these criminals. You can take back your streets, you can take back your schools and you can take back your children.

And your first step is to vote for a government that is prepared to fight for you.

Of course, you can say that I’m here doing the same thing as the president. You can say that I’m only here to convince you to vote for the DA. But there is an important difference. When I say a DA government will not treat you the way this ANC government treats you, I can back this up with proof. I can show you what we have done where the DA governs.

We can only affect real change in the provinces, the metros and the municipalities where we are in government. And even there, there are certain functions like policing that fall under the national government. But where the DA governs we do everything within our power to fight for the safety of our communities.

Across the Western Cape there are many areas that face similar challenges to yours. Parts of Cape Town have been locked in battles against gangsters and drug dealers for many years. And while the DA may not be able to directly influence the action of the SAPS, there are many other steps we can – and do – take to protect, educate and rehabilitate our youth.

The City of Cape Town’s Metro Police has a hand-picked and highly trained Gang and Drugs Task Team that operates throughout the city worst-affected areas.

As from July this year, the City also boasts a Stabilisation Unit – 32 members deployed in Manenberg to assists SAPS and the Metro Police in fighting crime in this gang and drugs hotspot.

The Western Cape Provincial Government puts a lot of money and effort into prevention and rehabilitation programmes, and in June they opened the province’s first women-only rehabilitation centre.

The DA has also launched school-based drug treatment programmes at four pilot sites as well as in several residential areas in the Western Cape.

But the fight against drugs must have a wider focus than just law enforcement and rehabilitation. And across Cape Town, the DA runs programmes to keep children off the streets and away from the drug dealers.

One of these programmes is a series of what we call Youth Cafes. These are places where young people can connect with each other, access skills development programmes and training workshops.

Another youth project the DA runs in the Western Cape is the MOD programme. There are 181 of these MOD centres where children are encouraged to take part in sport, recreation, art, culture and academic support programmes after school.

Keeping our children safe from gangs and drugs is an ongoing battle and we still have a long way to go. But the DA is committed to the fight, and we will not give up. 

We want to do the same for you here in Eldorado Park, but first you need to do your bit. We can only fight for you here once we are your government. Start by voting for a DA local government in next year’s municipal elections. I assure you, once you have experienced the DA difference in your metro, you will not turn back.

Then, in 2019, use your vote to fire the national and provincial governments that have repeatedly broken their promises to you, and elect a government that will work for you and protect your community.

A DA national government will make the fight against gangs and drugs in areas like Eldorado Park a priority.

We will bring back the specialised Gangs and Drugs Units that the ANC government disbanded.

We will increase the number of cops on the street.

We will get SAPS member out from behind their desks and into communities.

We will train and equip our police service.

We will ensure that drug dealers get convicted and remain behind bars. 

We will shut down every lolly lounge in Eldorado Park, and see to it that they remain shut down.

We will not simply walk in here before an election, make promises and disappear. That is not the DA way.

Together, we can take back Eldorado Park and make it your community again.

Issued by the DA, 10 October 2015