by Tertuis Simmers
As the cycle of electioneering progresses, one trend has become clear in the Western Cape – everybody wants a piece of the DA.
The stark reality is that many parties who have accused us of failure in governance have no plan to govern were they to find themselves in power. Smaller, newcomer parties, have often targeted the DA in an avowed and clear effort to steer votes their way.
Yet time and again, their governance – their record of service delivery on the ground – is either non-existent or has proven disastrous. For example, the people of the few municipalities where the Patriotic Alliance rules, such as Beaufort West and Knysna, can attest to the fact that the PA is exceptionally good at incendiary rhetoric but disastrously incapable of governing.
Rubbish piles up in the streets; dead bodies are left to fester and decompose in people’s drinking water; promises of new factories and new jobs never materialise; and rates and taxes double to employ an army of cronies and cadres.
On top of service delivery disasters, smaller parties also stoop to the lowest levels to bait and mislead voters.
Earlier this week, for example, at its rally in Cape Town, Rise Mzansi’s provincial premier candidate, Axolile Notywala, used EFF-like race-baiting rhetoric in an attempt to discredit the DA that is by far the most diverse party on the scene at the moment. His comments failed to elicit the desired effect and unleashed a backlash on social media. He has since edited the post.
In simple terms, what the DA does, is deliver. And while there is always room to improve, few can question that we have made a positive impact in the Western Cape. Almost 80% of net job creation comes from the Western Cape, and independent research has shown that the murder rate, in real terms, is gradually going down.
The DA-led Western Cape Government has alleviated load shedding by up to two stages in the City of Cape Town and is on track to increase this to four stages within a few years and to make the Western Cape energy-independent by 2035.
We are pushing ahead with the construction of new education facilities, with entire new schools being built in as little as 71 days.
This is the only province where clean audits are the norm, not the exception; the only province where the Gini coefficient is falling; the only province where there is a track record of hope. There is a lot more to do: the murder rate is falling, but not fast enough; our unemployment is the lowest in the country, but much too high. But in the Western Cape, we have proved – not just asserted, but proved – that we have the know-how and the will to make real, consistent and positive change.
Can parties like the PA, Good, Rise Mzansi or the EFF say the same? The ANC, with a three-decade track record of failure, certainly cannot. And the others have provided no evidence that they would be able to govern with any degree of effectiveness or competence – in fact, quite the opposite. At best, the untested parties would flounder in the face of the difficult task of revitalising our economy, keeping our communities safe and resolving the energy crisis; at worst, they will sell out to the ANC and loot, steal and undo the hard-won progress made over the past 15 years of DA governance.
We have more work to do, but our party has proved the impact we can make. The impact is a positive one and a reliable one. Steady, real progress does not capture the headlines, but one only has to take the briefest look outside of the Western Cape to understand the difference that has been made over the past 15 years – and what we stand to lose.
The one piece of common ground that virtually every party has shared this election has been the belief that this election marks a key inflexion point for South Africa. We stand on the edge of failed statehood, and our nation cannot continue as it is for much longer.
The decision we make as a people will be one that future generations hold us accountable for.
In such uncertain times, what the DA has to offer is a guarantee of steady progress, workable policies, clean governance and fiscal prudence. It is this promise – not flashy campaign stunts or unhinged rants on X or TikTok – that will put food on our province’s table, keep the lights on, and cut our murder rate in half. That is why voters will vote to keep the Western Cape DA.
* Tertuis Simmers is the leader of the DA in the Western Cape.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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