The Democratic Alliance launched its election manifesto on Saturday promising to clean up the African National Congress’ service delivery mess and simplify local municipalities.
”Today local government is in a state of crisis. If we continue this way, South Africa will fail,” DA leader Tony Leon told party leaders and supporters in Johannesburg.
He said money that should be spent on basic services was being wasted on an extra layer of bureaucracy.
Half of all municipalities could not deliver basic services and many were in severe financial trouble.
According to a SA Institute of Race Relations’ report, 6 000 service delivery protests had erupted across the country in the last financial year, he said.
Less and better government, and not more, was needed. The state did not have the money, will, or the people, to deliver on its own.
Although the DA manifesto had policies targeting the poor, Leon said the rich would not be disadvantaged.
”Our election manifesto is more pro-poor without screwing the rich than any party has achieved in local government in 10 years.”
Several of the speakers who preceded Leon began their talks with shouts of ”viva DA, viva” and ”down the ANC, down”. Most focused on the ANC’s lack of delivery, the corruption of its councillors and its failure to lead the fight against HIV/Aids.
Leon lauded Northern Cape DA member Glen Chase for blowing the whistle on provincial transport MEC John Block’s abuse of travel and accommodation privileges in 2002.
To disapproving mutters of ”skande” [scandal] from the audience, Chase said in his speech: ”My friends, the ANC is corrupt to the core … The ANC can’t deliver because fat cat councillors are too busy filling their pockets and awarding tenders to friends and family.”
Chase said the party would appoint a municipal ombudsman to investigate corruption in those local governments it controlled.
It also intended implementing a 12-point plan to guide the awarding of contracts and tenders.
This included a central tender office to independently screen all tender documents after departments had made their recommendations.
”No more backdoor tenders. No more closed door meetings … We are going to open all portfolio committees, executive committees and council meetings to the media and the public,” Leon said.
The party’s Cape Town mayoral candidate Helen Zille said the country’s housing backlog was growing. One in four households across the country had no basic services.
She said the party would provide free generic antiretroviral drugs to HIV-positive pregnant women and rape survivors.
In his speech Leon said the party would kick out those who sold fake Aids drugs to the poor and desperate.
Referring to controversial vitamin entrepreneur Dr Matthias Rath, Leon said: Pack your bags. Your are not welcome in any DA-administered town or city.”
Former Pan Africanist Congress councillor Thiny Thobejane said after 12 years in power, the ANC was still making promises.
It had responded to recent service delivery protests in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, not with delivery, but with rubber bullets, she said.
DA federal chairperson Joe Seremane joked that the country’s roads had deteriorated to such an extent that motorists now had trouble finding them.
”Under the ANC government, we don’t say ‘watch for the potholes, but look for the road’.”
The DA’s mayoral candidate for Johannesburg Mike Moriarty said: ”There’s nothing so wrong with our towns and cities that you can’t fix, but you can’t fix it using the same people who messed it up.”
Leon said the party’s councillors would have to sign a pledge committing them to good behaviour. It came with a ”punishment clause” which, if violated, would result in them losing their jobs. – Sapa