1 

     

   

  

LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANIFESTO

2011        

    2 

 CONTENTS

Foreword

1. Introduction

2. The DA's vision

3. The DA’s agenda for local government

3.1 Reducing poverty through growth and jobs

a) Ensuring clean and transparent government

b) Ensuring efficient and effective government

c) Planning and regulating for growth

d) Building and maintaining infrastructure

e) Making government more accessible

f) Building strategic partnerships

g) Using resources sustainably

h) Building human settlements

i) Fighting crime

3.2 Delivering services for all

a) Caring for the poor

b) Providing clean water

c) Providing electricity

d) Managing sewerage

e) Ensuring refuse removal

f) Delivering primary healthcare

g) Facilitating social development

4. Conclusion

    3 

Foreword

You hold in your hands the DA’s plan to deliver services for all. But it goes further than

that. It sets out what the DA will do to boost economic growth and job creation. Getting a

job is the only sustainable way to beat poverty.

This manifesto is not a series of unconnected promises. It is a set of interlocking policies

that, when implemented together, make a real difference in people’s lives over time.

The policies summarised in these pages have been shown to work where the DA already

governs – municipalities like Baviaans in the Eastern Cape, Midvaal in Gauteng and many

local administrations across the Western Cape, including the City of Cape Town. In all

these places, the DA has cleaned up government, increased efficiencies and improved

financial management. The result has been better service delivery for everybody, but

particularly the poor and unemployed.

Each DA municipality is a work in progress, but we are moving in the right direction in

every one. And don't just take my word for it. Every independent survey and audit points to

the DA's superior record of good governance and service delivery.

This election is your opportunity to compare the performance of the two main parties in

government over the last five years. And then it is up to you to make a choice. You can

choose five years of corruption, inefficiency, poor service delivery and economic decline.

Or you can choose the DA.

It's that simple.

So make the right choice and vote DA on 18 May.

Regards

Helen Zille Leader of the Democratic Alliance

    4 

1. Introduction

On 18 May 2011, you will vote for a councillor to represent your ward and the party you

wish to govern your municipality.

The choice you make will have an impact on your life for the next five years.

Why is this choice so important?

Whoever governs your city or town council controls many of the things that affect you.

Your municipality is wholly or partly responsible for things like:

Creating the conditions for economic growth and job creation

Crime prevention

Delivery of basic services such as water, sanitation, electricity and refuse removal

Public transport

Housing

Setting and collecting rates and service charges

Town planning and making the rules for development

Construction and maintenance of municipal roads

Trading and building regulations

Primary healthcare at municipal clinics

Traffic and parking

Recreation facilities, parks, beaches and other public amenities

This manifesto tells you about the DA’s approach to local government. It shows why the

DA is becoming the party of choice for every South African who wants the better life

promised in 1994.

    5 

2. The DA’s vision

The DA has a vision for South Africa. It is a vision for every province, city, town and

village.

We call it the open, opportunity society for all.

By ‘open,’ we mean a society in which people have the right to be themselves and follow

their own path in life. An open society is founded on a bill of rights, the rule of law,

democratic decision making, transparency, accountability and tolerance. In an open

society, independent institutions protect you from power abuse, the media is free and civil

society is independent.

By ‘opportunity,’ we mean a society in which people are given the means to use their rights

and improve their circumstances so that they can live lives they value. The state

recognises its duty to do for people what they cannot be expected to do for themselves.

We believe this includes creating opportunities for redress. We cannot, and do not, ignore

the legacy of apartheid. At the same time, we believe every citizen must take

responsibility for using the opportunities provided.

By ‘for all,’ we mean a society which truly belongs to all who live in it, in which all South

Africans – regardless of the colour of their skin or the circumstances of their upbringing –

have the same rights and access to the opportunities that they need to improve their lives.

In a society for all, redress of past discrimination is essential, and is aimed at those who

still suffer the effects of that discrimination.

3. The DA’s agenda for local government

The greatest obstacle on the road to an open, opportunity society for all is poverty. Poverty

is an assault on dignity. It causes hunger and ill-health. It fosters ignorance and fuels drug

    6 

addiction and alcohol abuse. It generates despair. In short, poverty robs people of the

chance to follow their dreams and lead lives they value.

To win the war against poverty, DA governments focus on two things:

Creating an environment for growth and jobs

Delivering essential services to every person irrespective of their circumstances

This manifesto is the DA’s plan to turn your local municipality into an engine of growth and

job creation. And it sets out what the DA will do to deliver services for all in your town or

city.

It is the blueprint for the open, opportunity society for all at local level.

3.1. Reducing poverty through growth and jobs

There is no opportunity like a job opportunity. A job is a passport out of poverty and opens

a pathway to prosperity. That is why job creation is the DA’s number one priority wherever

it governs.

The DA understands that jobs can only be created sustainably through a growing

economy.

When international companies start businesses in our towns and cities, they create jobs.

And when local entrepreneurs start up their own businesses, whether large, medium, small

or micro, they create jobs.

Our role in government – whether at national, provincial or local level – is to create an

environment that attracts people with skills and capital, and enables them to start or

expand their businesses.

This is vital to create the employment opportunities that lift people out of poverty. We have

to make it easier to create a job and easier to get a job. This is what governments of

    7 

successful countries, provinces, cities and towns do all over the world. It is the only

approach that works, over time, to beat poverty.

a) Ensuring clean and transparent government

Governments that create an enabling environment for growth and job creation are clean

governments. They understand that corruption chases away investment. They know that

corruption makes poor people poorer.

The DA is the party of clean government in South Africa. Not just in word, but in deed. Our

anti-corruption measures go further than any other party.

In municipalities the DA governs, it will:

Open up the tender process at the adjudication stage to ensure that tenders are

awarded fairly to the bidder that offers the most value for money service

How the DA increased BEE through opening up

tenders in Cape Town

When the ANC governed Cape Town, Black Economic

Empowerment (BEE) criteria were applied far in excess

of legal requirements. This was designed to restrict the

number of companies eligible to enter into contracts so

that the same politically-connected companies were

awarded tenders time and time again. When the DA

assumed office, the municipality relaxed the criteria and

opened up the Bid Adjudication Tender Award

Committee to the public. This increased the number of

small businesses on the City’s supplier database from

10 000 to 16, 677. By opening up the competition for

contracts to companies outside the politically-connected

few, the percentage of tenders awarded to SMME/BEE

firms increased from 40% to 68%.

    8 

Require councillors and officials to disclose their financial interests every year to

ensure there are no conflicts of interest.

Cut out all wasteful and fruitless expenditure on items like luxury cars and lavish

parties that benefit politicians, but not the people

Open council and sub-council meetings to the public, including committees and

sub-committees. Only meetings that require confidentiality (such as discussions

over staffing and legal issues) will remain closed

Establish competent and independent audit committees to scrutinise and

investigate issues identified by the auditor general

Where appropriate, establish Forensic Investigation Units to investigate allegations

of corruption

b) Ensuring efficient and effective government

Clean and corruption-free government is essential to create the conditions for economic

growth, but it is not enough. Efficient financial management is crucial for collecting revenue

and spending money effectively.

Efficient and effective government starts with the calibre of councillors and the capacity of

municipal staff. When councillors and employees don’t perform, neither does a

municipality.

The difference that DA government makes – the case of Kouga In 2000, the DA took control of the Kouga municipality in the Eastern Cape from the ANC. The municipality was bankrupt and struggling to deliver basic services. By 2002 – within two years – the DA had turned the municipality around. Its finances were sound and services were delivered like clockwork. In 2002, the DA lost control of the municipality to the ANC due to floor-crossing. By 2004 – just two years later – the municipality was bankrupt again.

    9 

The DA will:

Ensure all DA councillors and mayors are “fit-for-purpose” – that they have the

necessary skills to make a success of their jobs and serve the people

Measure each mayor and councillor against an individual performance agreement

containing agreed annual objectives, including regular contact with the citizens they

serve

Require each councillor to sign the DA Councillor’s Charter that commits them to a

required standard of service

Appoint staff based on the value they add to the organisation, not their political

affiliation

Conduct regular human resource audits to ascertain skills gaps and assess the

diversity of the staff complement

The DA Councillors’ Charter As a DA Councillor I pledge:

To work for the goals and programmes described in the DA’s Local Government Manifesto

To represent all the people of my municipality faithfully To maintain the highest levels of personal integrity

and professional conduct in everything I do I understand that, should I fail to meet the required level of performance, I will be removed from office.

Helen Zille – best mayor in the world In October 2008, then Mayor of Cape Town Helen Zille beat 820 other contenders to win the “World Mayor of the Year” award. In her acceptance letter, Helen paid tribute to the DA team in the City: “This award really acknowledges a team effort. It is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of my colleagues”, she said.

    10 

Continuously monitor and evaluate individual staff performances

Implement training programmes to up-skill under-performing employees. Individuals

unable to improve their performance after appropriate support will have their

employment terminated

A municipality’s ability to function depends on the money it collects from other spheres of

government and ratepayers. Without a revenue stream it cannot deliver services and

invest in infrastructure.

A DA-run municipality will:

Work to obtain additional grants and funding from various sources, including the

national and provincial governments

Ensure it has the funding for all projects it embarks on. New unfunded mandates

will be resisted

Manage tariffs for municipal services so that annual tariff changes are as

predictable and gradual as possible

Ensure that citizens are billed correctly and only for the services they consume

Itemise charges clearly so citizens can see what they are being charged for

Efficiently collect fines and penalties that are due and only write off bad debt in

exceptional circumstances, on a case-by-case basis

Implement, track and report on measurable targets for debt collection

Setting the benchmark for financial management – the case of Midvaal This year, Midvaal – the only DA-governed municipality in Gauteng – received a clean bill of financial health from the Auditor-General for the eighth time. This closely followed the Gauteng Planning Commission’s Quality of Life Survey which rated Midvaal number one in Gauteng for service delivery, living conditions and governance.

    11 

Finally, for a municipality to be efficient and effective, it has to get its internal management

processes right. It must set itself clear targets and deliver on them. And it must follow the

rules without getting bogged down in bureaucratic compliance. Value for money is more

important than box-ticking.

The DA is committed to:

Setting each municipality delivery performance targets and evaluating these

regularly

Developing Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) in consultation with citizens and

local businesses, with a clear and detailed timeline for IDP planning. IDPs should

identify service shortfalls and local hurdles to investment and set out action plans

for dealing with these

Developing a supply chain management policy that rigorously checks quality and

value for money. Problematic suppliers that do not deliver to the required standard

will be black-listed.

Working harder and doing more with less. This means improving our systems and

using technology intelligently to increase efficiencies

c) Planning and regulating for growth

Every city and town needs a spatial development plan that makes sustainable growth

possible. And regulations are necessary to ensure orderly living. However, in order to

overcome poverty by creating growth and jobs, planning regimes must seek to encourage

investment while taking into account the need to protect the environment and fund service

delivery. Reasonable regulations must be administered efficiently and quickly, with as little

hassle as possible.

To ensure a pro-growth planning and regulatory environment, the DA will:

    12 

Develop spatial planning frameworks that encourage investment while taking into

account the need to protect the natural and heritage environments and fund service

delivery

Work with local businesses to identify and eliminate the biggest hurdles to doing

business in a town or city

Eliminate excessive red tape and simplify regulations, including zoning, planning

approvals, health and safety, traffic and licensing functions

Establish a programme to improve customer service by reducing the time it takes to

process and approve applications

d) Building and maintaining infrastructure

Job-creating economic growth cannot happen without the right infrastructure in the right

places. No one invests in a town or city where the lights go out, toilets don’t flush and taps

run dry. Well-maintained roads are vital for the transport of goods and people. Reliable

and affordable public transport connects people to economic opportunities. An efficient

telecommunications network helps businesses to communicate with their customers, and

people to communicate with each other. Government-owned assets should be used to

attract investment, development and skills.

To ensure growth-led infrastructure development, the DA will:

Develop a strategic asset management plan and asset register for all municipal

infrastructure, above and below the ground. The asset register will be subject to

regular audits of moveable and immovable assets, which will enhance the sound

management of investment, depreciation, capital maintenance and strategic capital

planning decisions

Work to ensure that every town and city is able to provide bulk service delivery and

maintain bulk service infrastructure, including electricity, water and sanitation

services

Conduct an audit on the state of municipal roads

    13 

Set up a reporting system that allows the public to report potholes and other faults

and respond within a reasonable period of time

Where funds allow, develop a safe, reliable, affordable and integrated public

transport system. We will investigate creating and strengthening partnerships with

the private sector and prioritise investment in public transport

Increase access to fast internet connections by working with the private sector to

improve telecommunications infrastructure

Investigate ways in which under-utilised state-owned assets can be made available

for development by the private sector

e) Making government more accessible

Accountable governments understand the importance of making it easier, not harder, for

people and businesses to interact with government. Stonewalling officials, complicated

bureaucratic processes and endless red tape all hinder growth and job creation.

The DA will make municipalities accessible by:

Ensuring all council and committee meetings are open to the public

Ensuring there is a proper ward committee system in place with membership that is

truly representative of the local community

Establishing a customer service improvement programme

Establishing an effective system to process complaints and to report corruption

Ensuring that all correspondence is acknowledged within 48 hours

Publishing council meeting agendas and minutes, by-laws, the Integrated

Development Plan, the budget and other important information online. Such

information will also be available in libraries, at municipal citizen information centres

and on request

    14 

f) Building strategic partnerships

If municipalities are to play their part in boosting growth and creating jobs, they cannot work in a vacuum. Working with strategic partners in the public and private sectors is crucial for developing best practice, co-ordinating policies and reducing costs.

To this end, the DA will:

Plug each municipality it governs into the growing network of DA-governed

municipalities

Partner or ‘twin’ strong municipalities with weaker ones

Work closely and professionally with the provincial and national spheres of

government to put the needs of citizens first

Investigate the viability of public-private partnerships with local businesses and non-

profit organisations

Engage local chambers of business to support the development of programmes that

focus on retaining and expanding existing local businesses

Promote the implementation of donor-funded programmes

Where feasible, establish Local Economic Development (LED) one-stop-shops to

provide information on investment opportunities and licensing, land use, planning

approval procedures, investor information and business start-up advice

Work with local business to understand and identify investment opportunities and

manage marketing campaigns to attract investment

Ensure that Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) take into account the needs of

the private sector

Where relevant, develop rural development programmes aimed at making business

in rural areas more competitive

g) Using resources sustainably If growth is not environmentally sustainable, it will grind to a halt. This is why the DA is

paying special attention to the Green Economy, particularly renewable energy, water-

management and pollution reduction.

    15 

To manage resources effectively and sustainably, the DA will:

Make inefficiency expensive through a tariff structure that discourages over-

consumption of water and electricity

Encourage cost-effective means of recycling and waste minimisation initiatives,

such as the recycling of grey water for irrigation

Make sure all municipal facilities are energy and water efficient. Our local

governments will produce energy efficiency plans with targets to minimise energy

usage within official buildings and public spaces

Conduct energy audits of municipal buildings and retrofit municipal buildings to

reduce usage of energy from fossil fuel sources

Move towards the installation of energy efficient lighting (such as LEDs and solar

power) in all public spaces

Pass and enforce by-laws that control industrial emissions and other forms of

pollution

h) Building human settlements

Everybody has the right to decent shelter. And everybody should be afforded the

opportunity to live in a place with access to schools, social amenities, commercial activity

and transport links. The DA is committed to creating human settlements, not just providing

low cost housing.

DA municipalities will:

Plan housing developments in concert with other departments and spheres of

government to ensure that houses are built as close as possible to opportunities,

such as transport, education and jobs

Establish and maintain community amenities such as childcare facilities, municipal

halls, parks, recreation grounds, public places, cemeteries, beaches, sports

grounds, markets and libraries

    16 

Push for the necessary accreditation from national and provincial government to

take a lead role in housing provision in an area

Prioritise the upgrade of informal settlements and the provision of serviced sites,

while ensuring that backyard dwellers are not left behind

Work with the private sector to develop, manage and maintain affordable rental

housing units

Develop a strategy to manage densification and contain urban sprawl

Manage housing opportunity lists fairly and develop a standard, transparent, and

fair process for selecting housing beneficiaries where one does not already exist

i) Fighting crime

Rampant crime robs people of their right to live without fear. High crime rates are

impediments to growth and job creation. Local governments have an important role to play

in fighting crime and improving the quality of life through policing relevant by-laws. A good

metro or municipal police service can help the South African Police Services reduce crime

and assist provincial traffic officials to improve safety on our roads. Municipalities also

have a vital role to play in eradicating the social decay that leads to crime by drafting and

implementing appropriate by-laws.

DA-governed municipalities will:

Adopt a zero-tolerance approach to speeding and drunk driving. The worst

offenders will be caught, punished and named and shamed in the media

Use the latest technology to catch speedsters and drunk drivers

Establish effective municipal and community courts to handle prosecutions for traffic

offences and by-law contraventions to reduce pressure on magistrate’s courts

Establish municipal police services responsible for traffic policing, crime prevention

and enforcement of municipal by-laws

Ensure municipal policing services are efficient, effective and responsive through

training, training and more training to improve the quality of policing staff

    17 

Expand the number of municipal police in areas where crime rates are particularly

high

Assess each officer’s fitness on a quarterly basis. This will be supported by a police

fitness programme requiring officers to attend to regular physical training periods

Adopt the latest technologies to improve crime detection, response times and

ensure real-time crime statistics are available internally and to the public

Develop, where feasible, specialist crime prevention units to focus on specific

priority crimes, particularly through intelligence-driven policing

Create partnerships with local businesses and communities to establish

neighbourhood watches, crime patrols and other community policing strategies,

including rent-a-cop programmes with externally contracted municipal policing staff

Improve discipline in municipal police services by ensuring enhanced and reliable

disciplinary procedures

Reducing crime with specialist units Cape Town leads the way in the establishment of specialist units to tackle priority crimes. It has established:

The Copperheads to combat the increasing incidence of metal theft

The Drug Busters to conduct raids on illegal liquor outlets and drug dens

The Anti-Land Invasion Unit which prevents people from illegally squatting on City land

The Ghost Squad – traffic police officers in unmarked cars that target unsuspecting speedsters, drunk drivers and reckless drivers

    18 

Establish civilian oversight committees where there are metro or municipal police

services. They will comprise independent and apolitical experts on policing

Partner with community, faith, and non-governmental organisations to support

programmes that promote responsible choices, reduce substance abuse and

teenage pregnancy and encourage effective parenting

Expand the Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading (VPUU) programme that

has been proven to bring down crime through regeneration and urban development

3.2 Delivering services for all

Very often, the poorest of our people are unable to take advantage of the rights and

freedoms enshrined in the Constitution. The DA believes it is government’s moral duty to

combat poverty by ensuring everyone has access to the basic and social services they

need to improve their lives, including those who cannot afford to pay for them.

How partnerships can work to bring down crime Cape Town’s Central Business District is the best maintained, cleanest and safest in the entire country. An innovative and on-going Public-Private Partnership with a local business-backed NGO, the Cape Town Partnership, has seen violent crime in the CBD decline by 90%. The Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading programme, in its first pilot project in Khayelitsha, contributed to bringing down the murder rate in its area of operation by 33%. It involved a massive injection of social infrastructure, including sports complexes, schools, clinics, libraries, walkways, public squares and modern public buildings. R451m was spent on Khayelitsha’s new central business district which pulled in private investment, including two shopping malls in the area. A partnership between the local community, the Province, the City and the German Development Bank, this model is now being replicated in Manenberg and is soon to be extended to Hanover Park and Gugulethu.

    19 

a) Caring for the poor

People living in poverty need a caring, helpful government that ensures they are able to

live with dignity and access opportunities. Creating an opportunity society depends on

ensuring that those who were excluded in the past are catered for in the present.

The DA will:

Provide rebates for the poor, disabled and pensioners based on a combination of

property values and the level of household income

Implement an indigent policy to provide relief for residents unable to afford the basic

necessities of life including a basic water supply, sanitation, electricity, and refuse

removal

The DA; top of the league for service delivery

In 2009, data providers IHS Global Insight ranked Cape Town the top metro in terms of household access to water, sanitation, refuse removal and electricity. Empowerdex, the BEE Ratings Agency, found that “Cape Town is clearly the best city in the country for service delivery”.

Local authorities across the Western Cape were last

year ranked number one out of all nine provinces for service delivery in the Universal Household Access to Basic Services Index.

According to an independent 2010 survey by the South

African Institute of Race Relations, Western Cape municipalities provide more free basic services like water, sanitation and waste removal than anywhere else.

    20 

b) Providing clean water

Water is vital for drinking, washing and irrigation. The DA is committed to increasing the

availability of affordable clean water through recycling, cutting unnecessary consumption

and the installation and maintenance of bulk infrastructure.

The DA will:

Provide at least 6,000 litres of free water to each household every month

Conduct an audit of all pipes, dams and other water infrastructure to ascertain the

maintenance backlog and develop a plan to eliminate it

Identify businesses and households with excessively high water usage to assist

with consumption management

Encourage the installation of water management devices to reduce consumption

and detect leaks

How water management devices assist the poor in Cape Town.   Water management devices provide each household with 200 litres of water a day, free, at the normal flow rate. People who register on the City of Cape Town's indigent database get 350 litres per day, free (the most generous free allocation in the country). Whatever is not used gets carried over to the next day. People can get additional water every day if they specify how much they are prepared to pay per month.

Cape Town’s indigent policy – the best in the country When the DA took over from the ANC in Cape Town, it pushed the qualifying threshold for indigent subsidies from R88,000 to R199,000 so that many more people qualified for subsidized services. Properties in this category qualify for a 100% rates rebate, 6 000 litres of free water a month and 50kWh free electricity.

    21 

Compile drought management plans in areas with poor rainfall

Where feasible, invest in infrastructure that decreases our reliance on traditional

sources of water. This includes desalination plants and reclamation works which

treat sewerage water to the point where it is drinkable

c) Providing electricity

Electricity is our primary source of heat and light. Without it people struggle to cook, stay

warm and study. Eskom does not have the capacity to provide enough electricity for

everybody, so we have to encourage responsible consumption. And we need to decrease

our reliance on fossil fuels for electricity and move towards renewable sources.

The DA will:

Install pre-paid electricity meters to assist with reducing and managing

consumption. People who qualify as indigent will receive enough free electricity to

run their homes

Lobby national government to allow people to sell the excess wind and solar-

generated electricity they generate onto the grid for consumption by other users

Set targets in new low-cost housing developments for the installation of solar water

heaters

d) Managing sewerage

In some places human waste flows like a river down the street. We all know about the

dehumanising bucket system. The DA says it is time to put an end to this indignity.

The DA will:

Prioritise the upgrading of informal settlements with flushable toilets and appropriate

bulk infrastructure

    22 

Ensure that existing sewerage infrastructure is capable of coping with the needs of

the citizens it serves

Monitor e-coli counts in rivers and clamp down on the dumping of toxic waste

Constantly develop innovative and cost-effective ways to manage waste

e) Ensuring refuse removal

Many areas have unsustainably high levels of solid waste. DA municipalities will:

Commit to the regular collection of refuse and conduct specific area cleaning where

required

Identify and manage landfill sites at or near to capacity and set and manage waste

reduction targets, including the use of recycling

f) Delivering primary healthcare

Poor health robs people of opportunity. The DA believes that everybody has a right to

decent healthcare, not just those with medical aid schemes and access to private

hospitals. We have to develop an excellent, value-for-money public healthcare system that

can prevent, treat and manage disease. Your municipality has a crucial role to play in this.

Each DA municipality will:

Focus on key burdens-of-disease including infectious diseases like HIV and TB,

and lifestyle diseases like hypertension and heart disease

Work with NGOs and other spheres of government to develop a local strategy to

combat alcohol and drug abuse

Work with other spheres of government to expand access to primary healthcare

facilities in cities

    23 

Establish primary healthcare units in municipalities to assess the quality of care

administered at primary healthcare facilities

Develop a strategy with community leaders, service providers and welfare

organisations to raise HIV/Aids awareness in the community, prevent infection and

provide care for those already infected

Facilitate access to Aids Counselling and Testing Centres

Provide free anti-retroviral medication to HIV-positive pregnant mothers and rape

survivors at municipal health care facilities.

Ensure that condoms are freely and routinely available in municipal buildings

g) Facilitating social development

Poverty is the underlying cause of many social ills in our society, from interpersonal

violence and gangsterism to drug and alcohol abuse. DA local governments will provide

social services designed both to reduce social dysfunction through early intervention and

to provide people with the support to heal damaged lives and repair the social fabric.

How Cape Town is Improving its citizens’ health

The City of Cape Town runs 92 of the 99 Primary

Health Care facilities. Since the DA took power, the

City’s Infant Mortality Rate declined from 25.2 in

2003 to 20.8 in 2009. In that time, the national rate

declined to about 50. The Tuberculosis Smear and

Cure Rate has shown a steady rise from 70% in

2005 to 78% in 2008. The most recent figures

(January 2011) show an 80% TB cure rate, the best

of any metropolitan area in South Africa.

    24 

The DA will:

Maximise the quantity and quality of Early Childhood Development facilities in

municipalities

Work with the SAPS and other agencies to limit the supply of illegal drugs in our

communities

Work with provincial governments to increase the scope of drug and alcohol

addiction treatment programmes available to victims of substance abuse

Regulate the availability of alcohol with a view to lowering levels of abuse and the

harms associated with abuse

Creatively use public amenities, including sports and recreation amenities and

libraries in an effort to provide young people with constructive alternatives to anti-

social behaviour

Offer vulnerable people a hand up out of poverty by assisting them with skills

development and leveraging business opportunities

4. Conclusion

This manifesto sets out the DA’s approach to governing at local level. It is an approach

that aims to beat poverty through job-creating economic growth and to deliver more

services more efficiently to more people.

The DA has had an opportunity to prove itself in local government over the last five years.

And it has been shown that life gets better, step-by-step, for everybody where the DA

governs. Every independent survey and audit says so.

If you live in a DA-governed municipality, you already know the difference a DA

government makes. If you don’t live in a DA municipality, now is your chance to make the

change and experience the DA difference for yourself.

So, whatever you do, make sure you vote on 18 May. And vote DA. Because the DA

delivers for all.