WHITE RIVER – August 3 is the day South Africans will hold a referendum on the direction of the country. This is according to DA chief whip in parliament, Mr John Steenhuisen.
He told supporters at Ingwenyama Conference and Sports Resort recently that this would really be the most important election ever.
“We are at a crossroads. We have low growth, unemployment and economic hardships. We need a new path to prosperity and inclusive growth. We need to get our people back to work. We need to change urgently and we need it now.
“The real tragedy is that it is a crisis of our own making through the leadership of the ANC.” According to Steenhuisen, the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing in “The African National Confusion” and this absence of a clear blueprint for the economic future, scares off investors.
The DA’s plan is to attract investments to labour-intensive industries to create jobs for unskilled youths and relax labour laws, as well as have less state control.
“We need a labour regimen for the economy we have, not for the one we want to have. The right policies with the right people for the right reasons achieve the right results.”
He argued that firstly the basics needed to be put right at a local government level: the potholes, street lights, parks and community policing need to be in place.
“Our historic mission is to deal a blow to the party – to force them to sit up and listen. They cannot ignore the voice of the people. The election is a referendum on the direction of the country.”
The DA’s focus is on winning a metro in August, a foothold which is “absolutely essential,” he said. In Mpumalanga, the party aims to strengthen their representation as a strong opposition improves progress in management and holding power to account.
“We’ve seen slow and steady growth, because we don’t make false promises,” said MPL Ms Jane Sithole. “People want to taste the DA service delivery.”
Steenhuisen added that the onus should be on political parties to rein in their members leading violent protests – those who do not should not be allowed to contest the elections.
