The possibility that the Democratic Alliance might govern Nelson Mandela Bay Metro after the next election has become a very real probability, said the Democratic Alliance’s Western Cape ME for economic opportunities Alan Winde.
Speaking at a business breakfast in Grahamstown, Winde said that people had noticed the amazing things happening in DA-governed spaces in the Western Cape and wanted the same for their own areas.
“It’s interesting that where the DA does take power, we scrape into power and then people start to feel how it is to live in a DA-controlled environment.”
He said the 51% with which the DA had won the Western Cape provincial election had now grown to over 60% as a result.
DA-run areas outclassed all other areas in terms of most things, including job creation.
He said that in the last quarter alone the Western Cape had created 91000 jobs while Gauteng – which makes up 37% of South Africa’s economy – created only 30000 jobs.
Winde said it boiled down to creating an environment or eco-system that allowed business to grow and thrive and which gave potential investors the confidence to invest.
This meant addressing the smallest issues, such as potholes, to bigger issues such as municipal planning permission. He joked that driving in Grahamstown was like playing dodgem cars with the potholes.
On a serious note he said getting people to invest in an area required that government functioned well and corruption should be eliminated. To this end, the DA had passed a law in the Western Cape prohibiting everyone who worked for government from doing business with government.
“I can’t say that in a province with a R52-billion budget and with 83000 staff there is no corruption. But what I can say is that there is very little corruption.”
Encouraging investment also required cutting through red tape and instead rolling out the red carpet to business. He had created a special unit for this in his department.
He claimed that in DA-run municipalities the average time for registering property or getting planning permission was 12 to 24 days.
When the DA had taken over the city of Cape Town it had also scrapped the requirement that 30% of procurement had to go to black-owned business as this was not an open or competitive system. Instead the government had created the environment for black business to thrive.
“Now 70% to 80% of our R18-billion budget goes to black-owned companies and SMME companies.”
He said this sort of redress was vital.
He said although Nelson Mandela Bay Metro was rotten to the core, if the DA won the election, it had lessons to import from the Western Cape that would quickly get it back on its feet.
‘DA control would benefit Bay Metro’
Speaking at a business breakfast in Grahamstown, Winde said that people had noticed the amazing things happening in DA-governed spaces in the Western Cape and wanted the same for their own areas.
“It’s interesting that where the DA does take power, we scrape into power and then people start to feel how it is to live in a DA-controlled environment.”
He said the 51% with which the DA had won the Western Cape provincial election had now grown to over 60% as a result.
DA-run areas outclassed all other areas in terms of most things, including job creation.
He said that in the last quarter alone the Western Cape had created 91000 jobs while Gauteng – which makes up 37% of South Africa’s economy – created only 30000 jobs.
Winde said it boiled down to creating an environment or eco-system that allowed business to grow and thrive and which gave potential investors the confidence to invest.
This meant addressing the smallest issues, such as potholes, to bigger issues such as municipal planning permission. He joked that driving in Grahamstown was like playing dodgem cars with the potholes.
On a serious note he said getting people to invest in an area required that government functioned well and corruption should be eliminated. To this end, the DA had passed a law in the Western Cape prohibiting everyone who worked for government from doing business with government.
“I can’t say that in a province with a R52-billion budget and with 83000 staff there is no corruption. But what I can say is that there is very little corruption.”
Encouraging investment also required cutting through red tape and instead rolling out the red carpet to business. He had created a special unit for this in his department.
He claimed that in DA-run municipalities the average time for registering property or getting planning permission was 12 to 24 days.
When the DA had taken over the city of Cape Town it had also scrapped the requirement that 30% of procurement had to go to black-owned business as this was not an open or competitive system. Instead the government had created the environment for black business to thrive.
“Now 70% to 80% of our R18-billion budget goes to black-owned companies and SMME companies.”
He said this sort of redress was vital.
He said although Nelson Mandela Bay Metro was rotten to the core, if the DA won the election, it had lessons to import from the Western Cape that would quickly get it back on its feet.
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