The DA has the better story to tell, it’s just a fact

Fair enough. What are the important things to consider in next week’s elections? This is not about potholes, street lights or grass cutting. Ward councillors such as I take these things very seriously but May 8 is about national and provincial direction.

For this country to prosper, millions more people must have jobs. Employment is key to poverty alleviation. The Western Cape has outperformed all other provinces in job creation.

Employment in the Western Cape grew by 24.8% between 2009 and 2018, ahead of Gauteng (18.6%) and KwaZulu-Natal (8.8%). A total of 508,000 jobs have been created in the Western Cape since 2009.

That province has South Africa’s lowest unemployment rate of 19.3%, which is 14 percentage points lower than the national average when using the expanded definition to include people who have given up looking for work (figures are for the 2009 third quarter to the 2018 fourth quarter).

Other parties use slogans about jobs, but these folk are job-shedders. If you want more people to have jobs, vote DA. Obvious.

Job creation is misunderstood. It is not the task of government to “create jobs” by employing more people in the public service or in state-owned-entities such as Eskom.

Government’s role is to foster an environment which encourages investment, leading to job creation. The Western Cape deliberately set out to cut red tape and attract investment.

That province has created an enabling environment. It has secured R100 billion in foreign direct investment deals, leading to an estimated 19,000 jobs.

For example, the ongoing expansion of Cape Town International Airport can be linked to efforts by the province and the City to boost tourism. The provincial government estimates that tourism has brought in R6.1 billion to the local economy.

In three years the province’s “Air Access” strategy has added 750,000 international in-bound seats to Cape Town.

On April 9 this year, the National Assembly formally congratulated the Western Cape on having achieved South Africa’s lowest unemployment rate.

In a letter, Speaker Baleka Mbete also congratulated the province on:

• Achieving South Africa’s highest access to healthcare at 91.5% of all residents living within 30 minutes of a healthcare facility;
• Having completed over 200,000 housing opportunities since 2009;
• The distribution of over 100,000 title deeds since 2009.

In the Midvaal municipality, the DA has an 18-year record of attracting investment and creating jobs. Heineken, Ferrero Rocher, BSI Steel, Sedibeng Brewery, Paramount Trailers, New Hope, and Twin Boats have taken advantage of favourable conditions.

In Johannesburg and Tshwane, where the DA has been co-governing with others since August 2016, the pattern of investment, growth and job creation is starting to emerge. You can speed it up.

Next week there will be an historic opportunity to bring the DA difference to Gauteng, which generates 34% of South Africa’s GDP. Imagine Gauteng pumping like the Western Cape in terms of investment, growth and job creation.

That is SA’s best hope. You can help make SA prosper.

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