Help for communities in the Northern Cape struggling to get basic services is on the way — but only if they vote DA, says party leader John Steenhuisen.
The party took its “Rescue SA” campaign to Deben on Saturday, where Steenhuisen told voters at a rally that “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”.
Presenting the DA's blueprint to govern the province, Steenhuisen emphasised the successes of the party's four-month stint governing the neighbouring Gamagara municipality through its mayor.
The DA’s Henriette du Plessis, according to the DA leader, demonstrated the “DA difference” by cancelling the lease for her luxury mayoral vehicle, getting rid of the mayoral driver and VIP security, and refusing to move into the expensive mayor’s residence.
Within only 10 days after being sworn in, the DA mayor turned a budget deficit of R47m into a surplus of R19m
— John Steenhuisen, DA leader
“Instead, she directed that the house be rented out to generate additional revenue for the municipality, to serve the people.
“Through these actions, within only 10 days after being sworn in, the DA mayor turned a budget deficit of R47m into a surplus of R19m,” he said.
Du Plessis created jobs and practised fair hiring process — “unlike the ANC”. With 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 handed out to ANC cadres only, there was no cadre deployment and all of the workers were appointed fairly.”
The DA leader told voters that the party initiated negotiations to buy four new garbage trucks and a new front-end loader to service the municipality. By working with civil society groups and local businesses, the DA raised money to paint curbs, speed bumps and road markings and also reached an agreement with Sishen Mine to reseal the main road, saving the municipality R27m.
“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,” he added.
The DA mayor was removed from office by an ANC/EFF coalition which, according to Steenhuisen, were so embarrassed by the visible progress that people were seeing under the DA.
The town had regressed since the removal of the DA, he said.
“The coalition of corruption between the ANC and EFF took over, with the ANC mayor immediately leasing 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.”
Steenhuisen implored the Northern Cape community to prevent “the coalition of corruption between the ANC and EFF” by voting for the DA.
“Imagine what we could do for this whole province with a full five-year term. 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.”
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