November 2012 News

 

 

Education For Jobs

 

On 22 October the Party began the third push of the redress phase of its pre-campaign, focusing on Education For Jobs. The following message script has been distributed to the party:
“Apartheid denied millions of South Africans access to a decent education. This in turn denied them economic opportunity, creating a country of insiders and outsiders.
Many young South Africans who manage to finish their education discover that they lack the skills they need to find a job.
If elected to national government, the DA would make education its number one priority. A good education is the best way to get a job. And jobs are what people need to break free of poverty and live a better life.
The DA is working hard to enable every child to get a decent education and reverse Apartheid’s legacy. This is clear in the Western Cape, where the DA governs:

• In 2011 we reduced the number of under-performing high schools (i.e. high schools with a matric pass rate of less than 60%) from 78 down to 30
• Over the last two years, We have committed an extra R277 million in order to provide all children in Grades 1 to 12 with a textbook in every core subject over the next three years
• We have built 31 new school structures with 16 more due for completion in 2013
• Warm nutritious meals are provided to 428,000 poor learners across the province every day
• We have increased the number of learners who complete matric. The retention rate (preventing children from dropping out) has improved significantly. When the ANC was in government only 46.3% of pupils made it to matric. After three years of DA governance, the figure is 55.7%.

If elected to national government, the DA would implement the successful approach of the Western Cape government.
We will not allow the legacy of Apartheid education to keep people trapped in poverty. The DA is working hard to give every child the opportunities they need to get a job and have a better life.”

Nkandla

It has been revealed that Government is spending in excess of R200 million on the upgrade of President Zuma’s private home in Nkandla. The information relating to this wasteful expenditure is surreptitiously being kept under wraps using apartheid era legislation in the form of the National Key Points Act.
Our Federal Leader Helen Zille remarked that the Presidency and various government departments have over the last few weeks stubbornly avoided any admission of fault or accountability for the Nkandla scandal. The Democratic Alliance will not allow President Zuma and his government to get away with spending millions, intended for essential service delivery, on his private residence at Nkandla.

The Democratic Alliance has written to President Zuma, and to the Ministers of Public Works, Defence, Police and Public Service and Administration to give them a formal opportunity to offer a full and thorough explanation of how this unacceptable expenditure came to be approved, and on what basis. The President must also explain what personal accountability he takes for the scandal, and who else in his government will be held accountable for this failure of judgement.

The DA believes that spending R250 million on upgrades to the President’s private home is not only morally wrong and unjustifiable given our country’s social needs, but that it is also possibly illegal. It is, we believe, in violation of the provisions of the Ministerial Handbook and the Executive Ethics Code.


There has been some success in our quest to uncover the truth behind this scandalous spending of public money. In response to a request by the Party’s Parliamentary Leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko, Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) Chairperson Themba Godi has announced the first step towards a full investigation by beginning to engage with the Department of Public Works on this matter.