Statement by John Steenhuisen MP – Leader of the Democratic Alliance:
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address tonight comes amidst a backdrop of an improving economy, but South Africa needs faster growth and more investment to deliver on the promise of the GNU.
Economic recovery under the GNU is now underway. Inflation has moderated. Investor confidence is showing signs of recovery. The country has exited the grey list. Government debt appears to be stabilising. These are important signals that with the adults in the room in government, that South Africa can rise.
But the pathway to prosperity for South Africa requires faster reform, which the DA has been working towards and fighting for in government.
South Africa must accelerate economic growth if we are to meaningfully reduce unemployment and lower the cost of living.
The DA will keep fighting for the correct interventions in the economy that the President should have announced tonight, including replacing BEE with a model that will bring real inclusion and empowerment for all, a rapid process to unbundle and concession the management of our ports and rail infrastructure, professionalising the public service, outlawing cadre deployment and corruption, and restoring accountability in public finances.
I welcome President Cyril Ramaphosa’s declaration of a State of Disaster to combat Foot-and-Mouth Disease.
As outlined by me in January this year, this will strengthen the work already underway, accelerating rollout, tightening movement controls, and unlocking the resources our veterinary teams and farmers urgently need.
South Africans and all local businesses require municipalities that work. Despite the Presidents clear admission the state of local municipality has all but collapsed, tonight’s SONA did not go far enough to deliver action to fix the broken ones.
The DA has long been calling for accounting officers to be held personally liable for local government spending that fails the annual audit, and we welcome this commitment.
The water crisis faced by many South Africans was caused by ANC mayors and cadre deployment.
The situation will not recover unless voters choose a new government with a proven track record in honest, transparent governance.
Where the DA governs we deliver water within the existing framework, proof that it can be done.
We support the changes on energy reform, especially private investment in transmission, something the DA has been fighting for and proposing for years. However, Eskom cannot hold the monopoly on transmission and assets must be transferred to the National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA).
Economic and local government stability mean little if our communities remain unsafe. While we welcome the deployment of the SANDF to support SAPS in the Western Cape and Gauteng, this is a short-term intervention, it will not solve the crisis. Lasting safety requires proper intelligence and investigative powers.
DA-led cities and towns have the local knowledge and relationships to build strong cases and ensure criminals are locked up, not released back onto our streets, but current laws prevent us from doing so.
We will hold the President to his promises, because South Africa cannot afford a future where corruption weakens the police and the rule of law hangs by a thread
The Democratic Alliance entered the Government of National Unity with clear purpose: to rescue South Africa from the failures of prolonged one-party rule, to prevent extreme nationalism and instability, and to drive reform from within. We did so not for position, but for urgent reform and progress.
I welcome the recognition by the President for the hard work of DA Ministers, including expansion of agricultural trade, measures taken to address organised crime in the construction sector, the establishment of a state property company to turn our properties into investment and development opportunities, and the increase in the matric pass rate to the highest level seen in democratic South Africa.
This SONA is just months before the upcoming local government elections, when South Africans will be asked to choose who governs their towns and cities, and who can and can’t deliver services to them, like clean water flowing from taps, electricity that stays on, refuse that is collected on time, streets that are safe, and infrastructure that is maintained.
The question before South Africa in the coming Election is no longer whether better governance is possible, but whether the voters of South Africa choose it.
The GNU has created an opportunity to stabilise the country. But stability must now become sustained reform, and reform must translate into local delivery, and prosperity for all South Africans.
This year the most powerful reform is in the hands of the voters.
The future of South Africa depends on functioning municipalities. The Democratic Alliance is committed to building a country where growth is inclusive, where jobs are created and where local government works.
Mr. Gadget
Fun South African Fact: For nearly 50 years, there was a state of apartheid – white minority rule – in South Africa.
Rummy Stickers
Fun South African Fact: South African Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the world’s first heart transplant on 3 December 1967 at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town. The groundbreaking surgery was carried out on Louis Washkansky and Dr. Barnard was assisted by a large and exceptional team of surgeons, nurses and technicians. One of Dr. Barnard’s assistants was Hamilton Naki, a black laboratory assistant who had worked previously as a gardener and went on to work in the animal laboratory at the University of Cape Town. He had assisted Dr Barnard with research leading to the transplant. In the apartheid days, Naki had no access to higher education due to his race. Despite being unable to access formal training, he learned from and assisted university researchers and went on to do amazing work.