DA outlines plan for clean governance
WHEN the DA takes over the government, “money wasting” South African Airways will be privatised and Eskom subjected to competition from independent power producers, party leader Mmusi Maimane said.
Addressing thousands of supporters who packed a hall at the Pietermaritzburg’s Royal Showgrounds yesterday, Maimane also reiterated that former president Jacob Zuma and Minister of Environmental Affairs Nomvula Mokonyane would be prosecuted and serve long jail sentences for “corrupt activities”.
Maimane and DA provincial leader Zwakele Mncwango yesterday launched the party’s provincial election manifesto at an event that was attended by people from across the province. “We spend more money on SAA flying rich people instead of giving poor people an increase in their social grants. I say sell SAA and let us give the money to the poor.”
He also said the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) should be disbanded and provinces allowed to run their own trains “efficiently” and “reliably”.
He said Eskom should no longer be allowed to hold the country to ransom through load shedding, damaging the environment through coal.
“We are going to make sure that the climate in this country becomes a sustainable and environmentally friendly one, which is not dependent on coal as we should be moving towards gas, wind and solar.
“We must make sure that we bring in renewable energy so that Eskom does not holds us to ransom,” he said.
He said KwaZulu-Natal should be ashamed of being the home of Zuma.
“There are many gifts that come from KZN, but one gift you should not be proud of is that former president Zuma comes from here. Zuma took nine years selling South Africa, and I am going to make sure that he is prosecuted; but it is not him alone, because the ANC was there.
“I’m gonna make sure that Nomvula Mokonyane and all the corrupt politicians, who sold us to Bosasa, get 15 years in jail,” said Maimane.
DA MPL Francois Rodgers said he would not apologise for refusing to shake Zuma’s hand during the State of the Province Address.
“On Thursday the ANC referred to me as a racist because Jacob Zuma extended his hand to greet me, and I looked at him and I said ‘I cannot shake your hand’, and that has caused an outcry from the ANC.
“So the ANC believe that not shaking the hand of an individual who faces charges of corruption, fraud and racketeering is racist,” he said. “I want to make this very clear to the ANC, I will never apologise for not shaking the hand of Jacob Zuma.”
Mncwango said that among other things he would do when he takes over as the premier would be to support street vendors, as his late mother had raised and educated him and his sibling by selling goods on the streets of Nongoma.
“Through money earned from the streets of kwaNongoma I was able to get the opportunity to go to school and university, where I graduated as an electrical engineer. It all happened because her dreams were valid.
“My personal story is an example of how small businesses can take many families out of poverty as long as government removes all the red tape,” he said.