DA: Majority in North West are not free

“We have made considerable strides as a nation. It gives me joy that each and every one of us contributed to this success. Indeed South Africans are amazing. All of us, generations, ethnicities and genders, we contributed to this success,” said Joe McGluwa, North West DA party leader.

McGluwa was addressing party members at Mokgweetsi Primary School in Lomanyaneng near Mahikeng during the party’s Freedom Day celebrations.

He reminded the audience that while South Africa celebrated 22 years of democracy, “progress has been made but not nearly enough.”

He said: “For the majority of the people of the North West province, real freedom cannot be seen, and still, it remains a dream.”

Despite the gains made, the Constitution, he said, was under siege by the African National Congress (ANC).

He said the ANC’s endemic corruption had eaten away at the gains the country had made.

“In the process, no one in the ANC seems to realise how wrong this is. Or they do, but they choose Zuma and his side- kick Mahumapelo (NW Premier) over the constitution and over the people of South Africa,” McGluwa said.

The Constitutional Court, he said, had ruled in March that President Jacob Zuma failed to uphold, defend, and respect the Constitution as supreme law of the land in relation to the Public Protector’s report on Nkandla in which Zuma was found to have unduly benefited from the public purse.

“The Court unanimously judged that remedial action ordered by the Public Protector cannot be ignored without legal consequence and that Zuma should have challenged the report through a judicial process before disregarding it.

“He continues to undermine this judgement as if nothing is happening. What we have just seen is a less than genuine apology from the President and laughable letters of reprimand to some of his drum majorettes.”

He said the DA was working hard every day to make sure that every South African has true freedom in the form of creating the opportunity for employment, the delivery of basic services and working against corrupt individuals.

“We stand together with the people of this province, who have not seen the fruits of this freedom, to ensure that they are not held back by a corrupt government that continues to keep people shackled in poverty and without the opportunities provided by education and economic upliftment.”

He called on the people of North West to vote for the DA.

“Where we already govern, we want to continue to make progress. We still have much more work to do, but we are proving that real change is possible. Where we do not govern, we want to bring change that will move South Africa forward again. This is change that will stop corruption, create jobs, and deliver better services for all.”

McGluwa added that the DA run Midvaal municipality has the lowest unemployment rate in all municipalities of Gauteng, and he pointed out that the Western Cape, the country’s only DA-run provincial government is home to the country’s lowest unemployment rate.

“The DA wants to bring this change to the North West Province,” he said.