Is a DA-led government that far-fetched?

It’s often much easier to sit on the sidelines, criticising the decision-makers and pledging what you would do if you were in their shoes. Of course, the ANC has made it really easy to be criticised by just about anyone and everyone.

The power crisis, high levels of unemployment and crime and rampant corruption have left the public with very little confidence in the ruling party.

Widespread mismanagement has opened the door for alternatives and with the national elections next year, opposing parties’ ambitious promises don’t seem that far-fetched.

ALSO READ: John Steenhuisen asks South Africans for one term to solve problems

The Democratic Alliance (DA) don’t need a second invitation to remind all the voters of the ANC’s shortcomings. The DA are really effective at running municipalities, so why not give them more power at national level?

They believe they only trail the ANC by 10% and have come up with a solution for 2024, even though they have their own problems to deal with internally.

But leading the country is something DA leader John Steenhuisen has not given up on, suggesting that should the DA get the national government nod, it will end load shedding, half the crime rate and reduce unemployment to below 20% within the first term in office.

ALSO READ: Steenhuisen needs to work a lot closer with his allies

So what will the DA differently? Steenhuisen said: “Our country is crying out for these solutions. The DA-led governments, like Cape Town, are set to become the very first in the country to restore power.”

Other pledges included getting the ANC under 50% nationally, ending cadre deployment and corruption and building a capable state to improve education and healthcare.

When you’ve been exposed to having to cough up for e-tolls, been threatened to be arrested for walking on the beach and wearing open-toed shoes during Covid, and witnessed years of rot at municipal and national level, is a DA-led government that far-fetched? The DA don’t seem to think so.

ALSO READ: Phalatse might have what it takes to beat Steenhuisen, say DA insiders