DA leader, John Steenhuisen and national spokesperson Solly Malatsi. Picture for illustration/Photographer: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers
Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen has accused certain small political parties campaigning in the Western Cape of wanting to loot the province.
Labelling them political opportunists out “to line their own pockets”, he said they were not so much interested in opposing ANC as ruining the good governance the DA had built in the province.
“Instead of fighting to fix the eight ANC provinces that have been smashed to pieces, the political mercenaries in parties like the Patriotic Alliance, Rise Mzansi, Good and the National Coloured Congress are obsessed with trying to break the one DA province that works.
“Why are they coming to the Western Cape? If they get that right, it’s gonna be the biggest bank heist you’ve ever seen,” he said in a statement.
The DA leader questioned why these parties weren’t campaigning in other provinces such as Limpopo, North West and Gauteng.
Steenhuisen said the only reason they wanted to campaign in the Western Cape was because it was the only province that was providing good governance and creating jobs.
“Why are they coming here (Western Cape) to unseat the government that created 300 000 thousand jobs, why are they coming to the province whose economy was working and schools that were functional? Why are they coming here where public transport was working effectively?”
They should focus on the real enemy of South Africans, the ANC.
Steenhuisen said the only reason they were campaigning in the Western Cape was because there was nothing else to steal in the other eight provinces.
Political analyst Andre Duvenage agreed with Steenhuisen that the Western Cape was by far the best province in terms of governance and developmental criteria.
“From a personal point of view, I can give evidence to that. I just came back from the Western Cape where service roads were in place, as coming to the Northwest where there is load shedding and we have three days now without having water.
“So, there is no doubt that the Western Cape is performing very well; that is also applicable to local government, where the majority of performing municipalities were DA governed one’s. John and his party have a strong case when it comes to local government,” Duvenage said.
However, there was a reason to be concerned, as there was fierce competition coming from a number of parties which Steenhuisen referred to as “mercenaries“.
Freedom Front Plus national elections head Wouter Wessels said Steenhuisen’s statement was disingenuous and arrogant.
He said multi-party political participation in the Western Cape was a constitutional prerogative, just as in any other province, and residents had the right to choose who would represents them in the provincial legislature.
“For the DA to suggest that the DA can represent the interests of all communities in the province is arrogant and contrary to the spirit of a multi-party democracy.
“The Western Cape does perform better than the other eight provinces governed by the ANC, but it is not difficult to govern better than them. The province also has a lot of potential to do better.”
Wessels said the FF Plus believed coalition government would be the first prize and would be more representative than a one-party government.
“We also believe that a stronger opposition is needed if the DA were to again govern alone. That is why we are contesting. We do so to better the Western Cape and effectively represent our constituents.”
The Star
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