ANC and EFF coalition in PE ‘biggest threat to SA’: Maimane

The coalition between the ANC and the EFF in Port Elizabeth is the biggest threat to SA right now.

That is what DA leader Mmusi Maimane claimed on Sunday in Johannesburg. He was speaking at a media briefing following the party’s final federal council meeting of the year.

“The coalition that has been formed by the ANC and EFF is the biggest threat facing our people right now. These political parties have given up on building a non-racial country as was envisioned by Nelson Mandela‚” Maimane said.

“They seek to divide us on the basis of race in an effort to create a distraction from their failing governments or looting sprees. They defied the will of the people and‚ through back-door deals‚ removed a government that was doing what it was elected to do‚ which is to serve.”

Maimane said Africa was “destined for greatness but we have veered off track from Madiba’s ‘true north’”.

“There is no fair access to jobs‚ the tide of crime continues to rise and corruption continues to oppress us of opportunity.”

Maimane believes citizens can vote for “the coalition of corruption” of the EFF and ANC or the DA’s “agenda for change” in the 2019 national general elections.

The party wants to tackle corruption‚ job creation‚ fixing the police‚ securing the borders and improve service delivery.

“No country in the world can afford to not secure their borders precisely because uncontrolled immigration violates the rights of both nationals of a given country and those foreign nationals who seek to be legally recognised‚” Maimane said.

“In our country‚ our borders are porous while the SA Defence Force (SANDF) is ill-equipped to perform their basic function of protecting our points of entry.”

He blamed the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) for not knowing how many people enter the country.

“That has profound consequences on the efforts against cross-border crime such as human and drug trafficking‚ stock theft as well on the provision of basic services to our people - as local and provincial governments are forced to plan and budget for service provision without the most basic of information.”

The DA believes these seven steps will jumpstart the economy:

• Dump economic policies like nationalising the Reserve Bank‚ creating state banks and expropriation of land without compensation;
• Privatise SA Airways (SAA);
• Break Eskom’s monopoly by splitting it into different production and distribution businesses;
• Introduce austerity to halt spending‚ contain the national debt at 50% of gross domestic product (GDP) and supplement revenue shortfalls by cutting wasteful spending;
• Cut Cabinet down to about 15 ministers; 
• Exempt small businesses with less than 250 employees from “restrictive” labour laws bar the basic conditions of employment; and
• Ensure national and provincial governments pay outstanding invoices to small businesses.

The party wants to create jobs by:

• Implementing a voluntary national service year of skills and income for school leavers; 
• Building jobs centres with free internet‚ information and advice to job-seekers;
• Increasing opportunities for small businesses by cutting obstructions and excess regulation; and
• Prosecuting and ending the practice of ‘sex for jobs’‚ ‘carpet interviews’‚ ‘cash for jobs’ and corruption in job allocation.