Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane has moved to underline the stark difference between the area it governs, and that governed by the ruling party, the African National Congress.

On Tuesday (16 February), Maimane delivered a speech during the occasion of the State of the Nation Address (SONA) Debate in Parliament in which he painted a picture of the how different the country would be under DA rule.

Referring to the Western Cape, the DA’s stronghold, Maimane said: “There is one part of our country moving in the right direction. It is a place where the life of each and every citizen matters.

“It is a place where the DA government cut the perks and privileges of politicians. Where the cost of ministerial vehicles was slashed in half, where blue light brigades were banned and economy class flights are the norm.

“It is a place where over two thirds of the City of Cape Town’s budget is spent in poor communities, and where the poor receive the most generous package of free water and electricity in the entire country,” Maimane said.

The DA highlighted the Western Cape as the province with the strongest governance audit outcomes, and the place where fewer people are unemployed.

“It is a place where getting the basics right pays dividends. Where the matric pass rate improved last year to 84.7% – the highest in South Africa – while the pass rates in every other province declined,” Maimane said.

“It is a place where the pass rate in schools in the most impoverished areas increased from 57% under the ANC to 73% under the DA,” he said.

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Maimane said that president Jacob Zuma’s neglect has created a society of 8.3 million jobless people.

“The time is coming soon when they will sweep you and your cronies out of office, and vote in a new government. A government committed to building a fair society, where every child has a chance to be the best they can be.

“And when we deliver our inaugural State of the Nation Address, it will sound very different to yours, President Zuma,” Maimane said.

The president said last week that local elections will take place within three months after 18 May.

Maimane said that should the DA win the election, it would do the following:

Cut the size of the current bloated cabinet in half, saving R4.7 billion;

Privatise failing state owned enterprises, beginning with SAA and Eskom ‘who guzzle billions of rands every year’;

Make South Africa a nation of entrepreneurs by cutting red tape and providing more support and training for small businesses;

Improve Black Economic Empowerment so that it rewards companies that invest in their workers and create jobs;

Turn Basic Education around by giving teachers the support and training they need;

Increase NSFAS funding for poor students so that no qualifying student is denied further education because they cannot afford it;

Make communities safer by putting 250,000 properly trained police officers on the streets;

Fight gangsterism and drugs by re-instating the Narcotics Bureau and building more rehabilitation centres;

Save R30 billion per year by cutting corruption and firing corrupt officials;

Invest at least 10% of GDP in the infrastructure vital for economic growth;

Dedicate an additional R10 billion to speed up land reform, provide training and support for emerging farmers, and roll out farm equity schemes that give workers ownership of the land they work on;

Accelerate the issuing of title deeds to give people assets and redress past land ownership;

Declare the drought a national disaster so that we can urgently protect food security.

“This is how we will build a safe, prosperous and inclusive South Africa, and prepare our country for a changing world,” Maimane said.

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