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Democratic Alliance Scroll down to content Posts Posted on 12 May 2024 12 May 2024 Primary surplus no cause for celebration Please find attached a soundbite by Dr Dion George . New revenue and expenditure figures released by the National Treasury would on face value suggest an accomplishment on the part of Government. It has certainly been labelled as such by those who sing the praise of a political party which has singlehandedly collapsed our economy and rendered it uninvestable. Following 15 years of devastating deficit spending, Treasury’s recent so-called consolidation efforts have indeed delivered the long promised primary fiscal surplus (national revenue minus expenditure, excluding debt servicing costs). Of course this has received much praise from the ANC itself, but a closer analysis of the February national budget revealed a catastrophe in the making. The Treasury’s expenditure control measures have not targeted the right areas, and crucial sectors that deliver the basic services vulnerable citizens depend on like policing, healthcare, education, and defence remain severely underfunded. Instead, the enormous top-heavy public wage bill highlights that the ANC government’s priorities lies with high-ranking government officials, not with the people of South Africa, and not with the hardworking policemen, teachers, nurses, and the soldiers who serve our country. It is them who disproportionately bear the brunt of an ANC induced cost-of-living crisis as opposed to protected cadres. Currently, more than 38,000 public officials earn over one million Rand annually. These high-ranking millionaire bureaucrats do not add value to the quality of basic service delivery, and often serve to obstruct progress. Since 2014, the number of employees in this salary range has grown by nearly 300%. This is the obvious area where government must concentrate its fiscal consolidation efforts given that labour costs in this area of the public sector have increased substantially more than labour productivity. Achieving a primary fiscal surplus does hold significant importance. It reflects disciplined and responsible financial management. It allows for the reduction of national debt, decreasing future interest obligations. It frees up funds for vital public investments, service delivery, or even tax relief. But such a surplus cannot be sought at the expense of South African citizens while ANC connected millionaire managers continue to live large, while basic service delivery steadily erodes. Last month the DA launched an economic policy that will generate 2 million jobs and unlock the enormous potential of our country. It will enable a DA government to achieve a surplus, not at the expense of vulnerable South Africans, but to their benefit. On 29 May the ANC is set to lose its majority and South Africans will have to opportunity to cast their vote for the only party capable of rescuing our economy from rescuing our economy from the hopelessly incompetent and corrupt ANC. Voters need to enter the voting booths fully aware that the ANC has prioritised its deployed cadres over them at every turn. Posted on 12 May 2024 12 May 2024 Poorly trained SAPS officers cost taxpayers R2,2 billion in civil claims Please find attached a soundbite by Andrew Whitfield . The Democratic Alliance can reveal that since 2018, the South African Police Service (SAPS) has paid out over R2,2 billion in civil claims for wrongful arrests and detentions. In response to a parliamentary question, the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, revealed that under his watch, the SAPS has coughed up compensation in civil claims in the last financial year adding up to more than a third of its entire budget for forensic science laboratories, almost a third of its budget for Crime Intelligence operations, and nearly a quarter of its budget allocated to border security. In fact, the SAPS has witnessed a 52% increase in civil claims over the course of five financial years, which coincides with the term of office of Minister Bheki Cele: 2018/2019: R356,205,508.36 2019/2020: R329,657,948.87 2020/2021: R239,299,759.27 2021/2022: R346,220,870.81 2022/2023: R541,751,164.30 To make matters worse, it appears that settlements have already reached R406 million in just the last three quarters of 2023/2024. To put these figures into perspective, since 2018, this amounts to SAPS spending over R1 million every single day. It is patently obvious that the Minister is running what must be the most understaffed, underfunded, and undertrained SAPS ever seen. A crippled reservist corps with 93,3% less personnel than a decade ago, critical detective shortages across the country, police response times that leave citizens stranded and helpless, and an operational staffing component with less officers than we had in 2019 – this will be the Minister’s legacy, or rather, lack thereof. These figures not only show the shocking waste of taxpayer funds, meant for actual policing, but highlight a danger that as a result of a rot that has started at the top and worked its way down, ordinary South Africans are not even safe from the very police that are meant to protect them. A DA-led government will professionalise SAPS, restore discipline and strengthen the Independent Police Investigative Directorate to deal swiftly with police officers who have committed wrongdoing. The DA will cut the bloated senior management and ensure a merit-based system for promotion and appointments. The DA can rescue South Africans by halving the rate of violent crime and building a safer South Africa for all. Posted on 11 May 2024 11 May 2024 A strong DA will rescue KwaZulu-Natal Note to Editors: The following speech was delivered today by the Leader of the Democratic Alliance, John Steenhuisen, during the DA’s largest-ever KZN rally at Curries Fountain Stadium in Durban. Pictures are attached here , here , here , here , and here The DA’s latest TV advert can be viewed here Democrats, There is no place I’d rather be this morning than right here with you at Curries Fountain, in my beautiful home province of KwaZulu-Natal! As this election campaign has unfolded, KwaZulu-Natal has become a symbol of the most powerful force in the entire world. Hope. The Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal, is a source of hope. More than any other province in this election, the people of this region are grasping the true power of hope and change with both hands. Now, this is not to say that the people of KwaZulu-Natal are not aware of the many extreme problems this province faces. Like all residents of KZN, we know that eThekwini is a disaster zone, with the taps running dry for weeks on end. We know that Ugu hasn’t had a reliable supply of water for seven years. We know that land reform is the responsibility of the national government. And yet, nearly half of all outstanding land claims in the whole of South Africa, comes from KZN under the ANC. We also know that the ANC itself, is a disaster. They recently even handed out packets of beef-flavoured chips in Phoenix to try and buy votes, but it seems they forgot that this is a largely Tamil and Hindu community. It just goes to show how out of touch the ANC truly is with the people, that they would insult a community like this. Yes, the people of KwaZulu-Natal know that things are bad. And they know that things could get even worse if we sit back and allow a Doomsday Coalition between the ANC and EFF to seize power. After all, it was this province that experienced the pain of what such violence and chaos looks like, during the looting in 2021, for which not one instigator has been held to account. We know all of these things. But, because we have embraced the power of hope, the people of KwaZulu-Natal also know that it doesn’t have to be this way. It doesn’t have to be this way. This province is ready for a new way – for a better way, built upon hope. And all of that starts on the 29th of May, when the people of KwaZulu-Natal will rise...