Ready to rescue the Northern Cape

The following speech was delivered today by the Leader of the Democratic Alliance, John Steenhuisen, in Magojaneng Village outside Kuruman in the Northern Cape:

Fellow Democrats,

It is great to be in the Northern Cape today.

Hierdie provinsie het groot potensiaal.

Met ‘n klein bevolking, minerale rykdom en landbou potensiaal kan ons die Noord-Kaap red.

Maar daarvoor het die Noord-Kaap ‘n nuwe DA-regering nodig.

Because the ANC has failed the people of the Northern Cape.

Nowhere is this failure more visible, than here in Magojaneng.

Even though it is located in a dry location, this area is blessed with the Eye of Kuruman, a wonderful natural spring.

This area should literally be an oasis in the desert, with clean water provided by mother nature.

All that is required, is for the infrastructure that transports this clean water into people’s taps, and for sewerage to be cleaned.

But the ANC-led Ga-Segonyana local municipality has failed to take advantage of this natural blessing.

It has failed to repair the sewer pump station, it has failed clean and maintain the canals and it has failed to maintain the sewerage works.

Instead of a blessing to people and farmers in the area, the Eye of Kuruman has become a curse, with its water contaminated by the corruption of the ANC.

The result is that taps regularly run dry in Magojaneng for weeks and even months at a time.

Even worse, this community is still forced to use pit toilets.

This has not only robbed people of their dignity, but poses a risk to the lives of our children.

Ons paaie val uitmekaar.

Hier is nie ‘n enkele kliniek in Magojaneng nie.

En die klein polisiestasie in Mothibistad is ontoeganklik, met misdaad wat buite beheer is in die area.

Over the last thirty years, the ANC has manipulated the people of the Northern Cape with promises they never intended to keep.

This includes the new school they promised for the villages of Ga-Segonyana.

Despite over R85 million being budgeted, construction ground to a halt in November last year.

Because the ANC-led provincial government had looted the money and failed to pay the contractor.

And it is our children who pay the price, as learner transport is non-existent and struggling parents cannot afford to send their children to school.

But Democrats,

I am here today to deliver a simple message.

On the 29th of May, help is on the way for the people of the Northern Cape.

Help is on the way from the DA, because we are determined to rescue this province.

If you want proof of what I mean, we already have an example from right here in the Northern Cape.

An example from right next door, in the Gamagara municipality.

In May 2023, the DA’s Henriette du Plessis was elected as mayor of Gamagara as a result of ANC infighting in the municipality.

She ultimately remained in office only until 1 October 2023, for a total of just four months.

But, during that short period, she visibly demonstrated the DA difference that we can deliver to the whole Northern Cape on the 29th of May.

Within her first two weeks on the job, Mayor Du Plessis, she cancelled the lease for the luxury mayoral vehicle.

In plaas daarvan om geld te mors op ‘n duur motor, het sy die geld gebruik om twee bakkies te huur vir die departemente van elektrisiteit en paaie om die mense te dien.

Mayor Du Plessis also got rid of the mayoral driver and VIP security, and refused to move into the expensive mayor’s residence.

Instead, she directed that the house should be rented out to generate additional revenue for the municipality, to serve the people.

Through these actions, within only ten days after being sworn in, the DA mayor turned a budget deficit of R47 million into a surplus of R19 million.

Using funding from the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, she created 250 new jobs to clean Deben, Olifantshoek, Mapoteng and Kathu.

Importantly, unlike with the ANC where jobs are only handed out to ANC cadres, there was no cadre deployment and all of the workers were appointed on a fair basis.

Mayor Du Plessis also initiated negotiations to buy four new garbage trucks and a new frontend loader to service the municipality.

By working with civil society groups and local businesses, she raised money to paint curbs, speedbumps and road markings.

She also reached an agreement with Sishen Mine to reseal the main road, saving the municipality R27 million in the process.

And our DA mayor initiated an investigation into missing title deeds for residents who have been waiting up to two decades to own their own homes.

In fewer than four months, the DA was able to make a visible difference in Gamagara.

But the ANC and EFF were so embarrassed by the visible progress that people were seeing, that they brought an illegal motion of no confidence in Mayor Du Plessis.

The DA went to court and we defeated that illegal attempt.

But, unfortunately, the ANC’s motion to remove DA good governance from Gamagara finally passed in October last year.

And then the coalition of corruption between the ANC and EFF took over.

Raai wat volgende gebeur het?

The ANC mayor immediately leased a new Audi, while the EFF speaker got a brand new bakkie.

The VIP driver was also reinstated – just two weeks after he was arrested for killing and chopping up a dog with an axe, and distributing images on social media.

The coalition of corruption between the ANC and EFF ended negotiations for a new frontend loader.

Sewerage, decline and corruption came roaring back immediately.

Democrats, there are some important lessons from the experiences of Ga-Segonyana and Gamagara.

The first lesson is that the DA can rescue the Northern Cape.

Just look at all of the progress that DA Mayor Henriette du Plessis made in Gamagara in less than four months.

Imagine what we could do for this whole province with a full five year term.

It is because we have the experience in government, not only in Gamagara but also in places like the Western Cape, Cape Town, Midvaal in Gauteng and uMngeni in KwaZulu-Natal, that only the DA has the skills to rescue the broken towns of the Northern Cape.

The second lesson is that the coalition of corruption between the ANC and the EFF will bring Doomsday to the Northern Cape and South Africa.

As we can see in Gamagara, when the corrupt ANC teams up with the violent EFF, things will only get worse.

The lessons are clear.

If you want a big, strong and experienced party to anchor a new government to rescue the Northern Cape, then you must vote for the DA.

If you want that same strong party to rescue South Africa, then you must vote for the DA.

And if you want to prevent the ANC and EFF from teaming up to destroy the Northern Cape like they are doing in Gamagara now, then you must vote for the DA.

In this election, a vote for the DA is a win-win-win for the people of the Northern Cape.

Together, we can rescue this beautiful province and turn it into the mining and agricultural powerhouse it is supposed to be.

Thank you.