Maimane details slippery slopes and the way forward

Mmusi Maimane, the DA’s National spokesperson, Gauteng Caucus Leader and candidate for the provincial premiership, addressed Roodepoorters on various subjects at a meeting in the Florida Moth Hall on 28 October.

According to Maimane the 2014 elections could be as important as those of 1994.

“Marikana signalled that a government we have trusted can now be feared. People have started to ask what has gone wrong with South Africa,” said Maimane.

“It is of the utmost importance that we always be critical of leadership. You should be critical of me.”

Maimane went on to describe the ‘slippery’ slope that South Africa is on.

According to Maimane approximately 25 per cent of people are unemployed (one in every four people). Worse, he said, was the fact that of those, 40 per cent had given up on finding employment.

He also pointed out that inequality not just between races but within races is among the highest in the world.

Maimane again criticised president Jacob Zuma’ statement that “we should not think like Africans” and “that our roads aren’t just some road in Malawi”. He said that Kenya had overtaken South Africa as far as infrastructure was concerned and that Nigeria was about to outgrow South Africa as the biggest economy on the continent.

“These statements by the president permeate an arrogance and I am ashamed when my Malawian brothers remind me that during the struggle they played host to our exiles or when my Kenyan brothers remind me that they used their school fees to help finance the struggle.”

In addressing social ills he said he found it disturbing that in all the communities he had visited on his campaign trail thus far the drug Nyope (a mixture of dagga and heroin) is a problem.

Having a little daughter himself he said he was ashamed that it was predicted that one in three girls would be raped.

He then moved his focus to corruption.

“The first thing I would do is to appoint a person who is above reproach as chief of police. Is it really that difficult to get someone who is not corrupt?” Maimane asked in disbelief.

“Corruption is an insult to our freedom. Corruption steals our freedom,” said Maimane to a cheering audience.

Responding to the question from members of the audience about why they should vote for the DA, Maimane had the following to say.

“We need to win Gauteng because then we have access to the economy of the country. Gauteng contributes half the country’s GDP.

“Secondly we want to implement Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) that works for everyone, not just a few – BEE that creates jobs, new businesses and that develops communities,” he said to an again cheering crowd.

“My commitment to Gauteng is to start small businesses, not so much to create jobs but entrepreneurs by the droves. Small businesses create employment. It makes people feel like they own a piece of this economy,” explained Maimane.

Maimane went on to warn that e-tolling will cause unemployment, businesses will have to be too cautious and other roads will not cope with excessive traffic that avoid toll roads.

He referred to the state of service delivery as immoral and said that as far as services and education are concerned, “it shouldn’t be that where you are born is where you will end up.

“Cadre deployment will stop immediately under a DA Gauteng government. Civil servants will serve the people not a party, teachers will teach the children and politics will be kept out of classrooms. I even warn my DA colleagues here tonight that not if but when the DA takes Gauteng they must not think they will automatically get positions. We’ll do skill assessments and the right people will be in the right positions”, Maimane warned.

“Within the first 100 days of DA rule we’ll free up the financial capacity. I do understand that housing takes a while but I do not understand why you can not have a toilet while you wait,” said Maimane on the subject of under-spending by government departments.

As far as the billing crisis is concerned Maimane said that not even Helen Zille was exempt from skills assessment and that the City of Johannesburg top level management would be assessed and changed if need be to solve the crisis. (Currently the City’s billing department has an 87 per cent inaccuracy rate.)

“Do not ask how the DA will benefit ‘me’ or ‘us’, but vote for the DA that will benefit all communities and all South Africans,” Maimane urged.