STRAIGHT TALK

I am delighted to report that the latest Social Research Foundation poll has DA support on 31%, while the latest Brenthurst Foundation poll suggests we have the highest favourability in South Africa, at 37%. This is extremely encouraging and reflects the great work the DA is doing on several fronts.

I am particularly proud of our recent achievements in the Western Cape. They show there is nothing wrong with South Africa that cannot be fixed by a caring, capable government that partners with civil society to improve lives and bring progress.

This month, the province was awarded 100% unqualified audits across all 14 departments, as well as each of its 11 entities, for 2022/23. This is thanks to a relentless focus on transparency and accountability in the belief that clean government provides the foundation for service delivery and economic activity that improves lives.

Unsurprisingly, the province also continues to have the lowest unemployment rate in South Africa, with 54 000 new jobs created in the last quarter. Jobs are created when people have confidence in the future and are therefore willing to invest in new or existing businesses.

The Western Cape has a R7 billion budget to end loadshedding over the next three years, which will enable R69 billion of private sector investment in energy. This in turn will attract more investment and create more jobs.

The Census data released this month shows that the Province leads in delivery of water, sanitation and waste removal services, despite receiving much less funding than other provinces.

The Western Cape is also the only province where the murder rate is trending downwards, thanks to the more than 1200 provincial law enforcement officers trained under the LEAP programme in partnership with the City of Cape Town. Working with community policing forums and SAPS, they focus on murder hotspots in the province. This is how the province achieved an overall 5.5% decrease in the murder rate in the last quarter.

With a strong DA mandate for the Western Cape in 2024, the DA will continue to bring progress for residents in the province. But it doesn’t end here. The DA is working hard to bring our track record of good government to all of South Africa next year.

By signing a pre-election agreement with seven other like-minded parties to form the Multi-Party Charter, we have changed South Africa’s political landscape from unipolar to bipolar, offering an alternative government with a credible pathway to power.

I believe we have everything to fight for in 2024. But voters need to understand that a successful Charter requires a big, strong DA, just as a shopping centre requires a strong anchor tenant to bring the stability and attract the footfall that enables the smaller businesses to thrive and make a valuable contribution.

You can help re-write South Africa’s story into one of hope and progress by voting DA. Please urge your friends and family to register. They can check their registration status or kickstart their registration process at www.check.da.org.za. If we all pull together, the Western Cape’s story can be South Africa’s story too.

Yours sincerely

John Steenhuisen

DA leader