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Streamlining government, selling off SOEs, having special incentive offers and depoliticising board appointees are part of its manifesto pledges
The DA has ambitious plans to woo investors to the country by repealing a series of laws, promulgated by the ANC government, which the party believes has inhibited investment, leaving the economy limping.
In its 83-page manifesto, launched in Johannesburg yesterday, the DA outlined plans to repeal the Protection of Investment Act, the Competition Amendment Bill and the Mining Charter.
Thousands of party supporters made their way to the Rand Stadium in Rosettenville to hear what the official opposition proposes come the May 8 elections.
The DA is sticking to its guns about confronting immigration challenges and opposing land expropriation without compensation. And, to address South Africa’s housing crisis, it is looking to offer low-income households “housing vouchers”, valued at up to R150 000.
In an interview with City Press this week, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said economic growth in the country had been hamstrung by business being treated as an “enemy” by the state.
He said in the Western Cape, the only province governed by the party, unemployment had been countered by “freeing up markets”.
The DA wants to move away from placing the state at the centre of development. To this end, selling off ailing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) will form part of that shift. “The state must regulate, but it must not constrain,” said Maimane.
“Even around areas of inclusion and transformation, the legislation has become so cumbersome that it has actually slowed down that process. If you overregulate things because you fear abusers, you slow down the process.
“Our state is inefficient, it is bloated – and, as a natural outcome, things take longer. In certain aspects, the legislation is the inhibitor because it insists on multiple layers of bureaucracy. We are trying to simplify that.”
The DA’s plans to address the crisis at SOEs is a three-pronged approach that involves depoliticising board appointees; implementing a programme of full and partial privatisation; and creating a culture of competition among the SOEs.
The manifesto speaks of a Jobs Act to serve as an “economic stimulus shock”.
“The act will make special incentive offers open to foreign and domestic investors who meet a minimum employment threshold. In other words, a DA government will make doing business as easy as possible for companies that want to invest and create jobs in South Africa,” the document reads.
As part of its plan to address the housing crisis, the DA presents “a new housing solution”. It will offer households with incomes of between R4 000 and R15 OOO a housing voucher of up to R150 000, on a sliding scale.
The vouchers can be used for the following purposes: to buy material to build on a government-provided service site, as a deposit towards buying an existing house, or as a deposit towards upgrading an existing structure.
The party has not shied away from a controversial immigration debate, championed by Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba.
Maimane clarified that the party sought to ensure that anyone entering the country be documented according to various categories, be it asylum seeker, refugee or bringing skills into the country.
“If you do not document people properly, they become nervous. Then they are scared to leave the country to go see their loved ones because they worry that when they return they will be declared undesirable. You want to make it easy for them. It secures the rights of everybody,” Maimane said, adding that the position was supported by a number of leaders in the Southern African Development Community.
The manifesto promotes stricter immigration controls as a means to quell xenophobia and violence.
It reads: “Currently, South Africa hosts an unknown number of undocumented migrants; our country has a massive service delivery backlog; and thousands of communities still live without adequate access to even basic services.
“Undocumented migration poses two challenges in relation to this. Firstly, it is impossible for any government to adequately plan service delivery for an unknown number of community members. Secondly, state resources have to stretch further, which can breed resentment among South Africans who have been deprived for a very long time. It is the latter reality which can create significant tensions in communities, especially when the issue of scarce state resources is exponentially compounded by ANC government corruption and maladministration.”
Having joined the call for the size of Cabinet to be reduced, the DA’s restructured Cabinet would comprise 15 ministries, as opposed to the current 35.
The party is also calling for a review of district municipalities as a way of streamlining government. “District municipalities have few competencies and require substantial funding relative to the services they provide,” reads the manifesto.
“The DA national government will review the feasibility of doing away with district municipalities in a manner which will not compromise service delivery to the residents of local governments.”
