The DA’s election machinery broke with tradition by launching its manifesto at the Union Buildings, in what it described as sending a message it was ready to take power during the much-anticipated 2024 national and provincial elections.
DA leader John Steenhuisen, who delivered the keynote address, called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to “stop cowering away, and call this election”, because the DA was ready to topple the embattled governing party from power.
SA’s political parties — including the DA, ANC, and IFP — often use soccer stadiums as venues to launch their manifestos as they accommodate larger crowds. The DA launched its 2019 election manifesto at Rand Stadium in Johannesburg.
The choice of the Union Buildings was meant to send a “clear message” the DA was on course to defeat the ANC at the polls, said Steenhuisen.
“It is inside these buildings that the ANC executed the plans that created the world’s highest unemployment rate, unleashed violent criminals on innocent people, and captured the state. It is inside these buildings that the dreams of Tintswalo and millions of other hopeful young people were betrayed,” he said.
Once a symbol of hope, the Union Buildings had since been turned into a “crime scene”.
“Our meeting here today is a signal of intent … We must rescue the Union Buildings from the clutches of a corrupt government, and restore them to their rightful place as a symbol of pride for all South Africans,” the DA leader said.
DA leaders have used different platforms to drive home the message they will remove the ANC from the Union Buildings after the elections, dubbed the most important since 1994, as the electorate have grown disillusioned with poor service delivery, high unemployment, entrenched poverty systemic corruption and the party’s underwhelming performance in government.
The ANC, which is dogged by administrative, financial, and operational challenges, has been criticised by its leaders as being a self-serving organisation that is out of touch with the people.
Multiparty charter
The DA manifesto launch follows several polls — including those by Standard Bank, Wits University, The Brenthurst Foundation, Social Research Foundation, the ANC, and Ipsos — indicating that the governing party’s electoral support could fall below 50% for the first time since 1994.
With this possibility in mind the DA has entered into a pre-elections coalition pact with other opposition parties including ActionSA, IFP, Freedom Front Plus, ACDP and Isanco, called the multiparty charter for SA with the aim of unseating the ANC.
Steenhuisen said as the anchor tenant in a new multiparty government, the DA’s key priorities during the 2024 to 2029 term would include creating 2-million new jobs; ending load-shedding and water-shedding; halving the rate of violent crime, including murder, attempted murder and gender-based violence; and dealing with corruption by abolishing cadre deployment in favour of merit-based appointments.
The DA also plans to ensure quality healthcare for all; increase the number of grade 4 learners who can read for meaning; and “lift” 6-million people out of poverty.
There are 16.7-million employed people in the country, but at 31.9% the unemployment rate remains among the highest in the world, with 28-million people dependent on social grants for their livelihoods.
Steenhuisen took pot shots at the ANC, describing the organisation as a party in “terminal decline, being ripped to shreds from all sides”.
“For the first time in our democratic history, support for the ANC is set to crash well below 50% … The ANC was already on its knees when Jacob Zuma’s MK Party entered the fray. As we speak, MK is devouring millions of ANC votes. And the ANC only has one man to blame for its demise: Cyril Ramaphosa, who, for decades, did everything in his power to enable and protect Zuma,” said Steenhuisen.
The Constitutional Court sentenced Zuma to 15 months’ imprisonment in 2021 for defying a court order to testify before the state capture commission. However, he only served two months of his sentence before being released on special remission due to “overcrowding in prisons”.
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