Elections 2024|DA chief whip: “South Africa is not a poor country, it is poorly led”
DEMOCRATIC Alliance (DA) chief whip, Siviwe Gwarube, has lashed out at the government, saying it has failed to lift 30 million people out of poverty and unemployment.
“The greatest antidote to that [poverty and unemployment] is job creation. Our view is that no person in South Africa should go to bed hungry. South Africa is not a poor country, it is poorly led. It is because of poor leadership that people are starving to death,” she said.
Gwarube was speaking to the media in Polokwane, Limpopo, as part of a nationwide engagement on the party’s manifesto which, amongst others, emphasized the need for a substantial increase in state child support grant. The grant will also be extended to pregnant women.
She dismissed criticism that the party’s position on child grants was a populist stance. She explained in length:
“When children under five (years) are dying of starvation, that is a crisis – that is a constitutional crisis. No child should be dying of hunger in South Africa and that is the starting point.
“The second point is if you allow children under five (years) to be stunted or die, what you are doing is that you are not investing in the future. Twenty years from now, those children are not going to be active participants in the economy.
“Before you do anything, you have to plug that gap. In South Africa, people do not talk enough about children’s plight and that’s because they can’t vote. Stunting is irreversible. If the country lets down its future citizens, it is going nowhere very slowly.
“It’s not a populist stance because we’ve got a crisis on our hands and secondly it’s not the ultimate solution. The solution is to get people into jobs. I do not believe it’s populist – it was well-costed and we looked into best international practices.”
She said it was shocking to hear President Cyril Ramaphosa saying that it was only the ANC that could bring free education and social grants.
“That is not only a lie, but fake news and emotional blackmail to the people of South Africa who depend on the state for such kind of assistance. Social grants and social assistance do not belong to the ANC. They belong to the people of South Africa.
“Our stance is not borne out of the need to dispel the myth. The President lied to the people of South Africa,” Gwarube said.
Gwarube also said the government has failed to priories in dealing with issues facing the country.
“Our government is not spending money where it should be. A lot of money is lost to corruption. Yes, people will tell you there’s a clinic in the village, but if you go there you don’t get help, but only a panado,” she said.
