DA’s track record gives voters proof

DEAR SIR — It is hard to determine whether the person who penned the editorial on the Democratic Alliance (DA) manifesto even bothered to read it (DA runs cities but not itself, April 26). The manifesto is actually 59 pages, and not 35 pages as suggested, yet with one breath, the editorial claims the manifesto is too long, and with the second, it decries the fact it is short on detail.

Of course, there are slim pickings for critics in the manifesto, so the chief criticism of Business Day is that we are over-reliant on our track record where we do govern. What better strategy exists than showing the visible, tangible and demonstrable difference between a DA-run municipality and an African National Congress-run municipality?

This moves the argument from the realm of theory directly into the arena of competing models of governance, with measurable outcomes that place a viable comparison before the voter.

The manifesto sets out very succinctly how our core values of freedom, fairness and opportunity underpin the pillars of responsive government, service delivery, honesty and accountability, redress and safety. It shows that by implementing the same steps we have taken where we have governed, we can bring the DA difference to any municipality.

The editorial then lurches into a rant about how the DA is “bad at the politics” and refers to a “series of alliances” the party has made. The DA has been very clear that we are not in any alliances — we are out to win as many votes as we can and will assess any such discussions once the people’s voice has been heard.

I thought the piece myopic and malicious; the DA manifesto is worthy of far better analysis. John Steenhuisen MP Chief whip of the official opposition