Putting People at the Centre of DA Policy by John Steenhuisen

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Putting People at the Centre of DA Policy
by John Steenhuisen 

On Monday, 24 November, the Democratic Alliance convened its Policy Conference, bringing together DA Members of Parliament, Provincial Legislatures, Members of the Federal Executive, Councillors and branch members to refine and adopt the party’s next phase of policy proposals.

This policy conference affirmed four key features of the DA.

The DA is the only party that delivers services for all. This is evident where we govern. The passing of the DA’s 2026 manifesto framework affirmed this.

We celebrate the passage of new, exciting, modern, implementable policies, highlighting the fact that the DA is a vibrant party leading the charge in South Africa.

The party is united in its goal of improving the lives and livelihoods of all South Africans. With the mandate of voters, we are ready to get municipalities where we do not currently govern working again.

The people of South Africa are the centre of our policies. This is a core principle that underpins every decision we take as a party.

Where South Africans have placed their trust in the DA, they have unlocked clean governance, working services, and real opportunities. Consequently, we are committed to offering the country clear, credible and detailed plans that show exactly how a DA-led government will make life better for everyone.

Delegates approved and passed several policy offerings, including the DA’s Environment Policy, which outlines a sustainable plan to protect South Africa’s water, air, biodiversity, and natural resources while promoting environmental awareness and economic opportunities across society.

We tabled the DA’s Health Policy, which supports universal healthcare coverage that is affordable and sustainable. The ANC’s proposed NHI in its current form risks collapsing the health system and bankrupting the state. 

The DA’s alternative offers a workable, patient-centred path to universal coverage without jeopardising fiscal stability.

In addition, the conference discussed the DA’s stance on illegal immigration and border management, highlighting the need for lawful, well-managed and humane immigration practice, supported by secure borders and efficient Home Affairs systems.

Delegates also considered the DA’s 2026 Manifesto framework. Focused on four primary themes, crime, corruption, jobs and basic service delivery, the Manifesto Framework sets out our blueprint for professional, accountable, financially disciplined municipalities that deliver services and restore functionality where governance has collapsed.

I want to thank the Federal Policy Unit for their outstanding work. Their rigorous research, drafting, and analysis underpin our credibility as a party of ideas and ensure that our policy offering remains unmatched.

I would also like to thank all delegates who contributed to the conference, bringing the voices of the voters they represent directly into the DA’s policy offering.

Where the DA governs, services are rendered, opportunities increase and lives improve.

With the increased mandate of voters, we will now extend good governance, freedom, fairness and opportunity across the country. We are united by purpose, prepared and ready as we head towards the upcoming local government elections, and beyond.

This raft of policies (based on core DA principles) illustrates how and why, together with South African voters, we can sort this out.

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Responsible Celebrations and Support for Matric Learners

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Responsible Celebrations and Support for Matric Learners

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) calls on parents and guardians to ensure that their children refrain from attending the so-called “Pens Down” parties. These privately organised celebrations have become common after examinations, yet they often expose learners to serious risks.

We urge learners to celebrate the end of their high-school journey responsibly. Dangerous behaviour — including public drinking and drug use — must be avoided. The tragic loss of 21 young people at the Enyobeni Tavern in June 2022 remains a painful reminder of the consequences of unsafe celebrations. We cannot afford a repeat of such an incident.

We have also observed a trend of learners tearing or writing on their school uniforms. While we understand the excitement of completing matric, we encourage learners to do this only with old or unusable uniforms. Usable items should be donated to others who will return to school next year.

Parents and families are urged to offer emotional support to matriculants as they await their results. Excessive pressure can contribute to stress, anxiety and even depression. Paying close attention to changes in behaviour is critical during this period.

To the Matric Class of 2025: education remains one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. Despite the pressures, uncertainties and long nights, you have shown resilience and commitment. We honour your efforts and encourage you to enjoy the festive season safely and responsibly.

In the weeks and months ahead, seize opportunities that can build your skills and strengthen your future — whether through work experience, part-time employment, learnerships or volunteering. Your perseverance has brought you this far; continue to dream boldly, strive for excellence and walk with purpose.

Halala, Matrics. May Your Future Shine Brightly.

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Joburg Inclusive Economic Growth

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Joburg Inclusive Economic Growth

The City of Johannesburg’s Department of Economic Development has reaffirmed its commitment to driving inclusive economic recovery and strengthening collaboration across traditional leadership, academia, business and government.

Speaking at the Royal Business Breakfast in Soweto over the weekend—an official C20 (civil society wing of the G20) side event—the Department’s Head, Mathopane Masha, highlighted Johannesburg’s role as South Africa’s economic anchor and a vital platform for uniting diverse leadership sectors.

“Today’s gathering represents a powerful collaboration where traditional leadership, government, business and civil society come together to advance inclusive socio-economic development,” he said.

Masha added that Johannesburg’s role in hosting G20 processes presents an opportunity to channel inclusive growth at local and regional levels. “Our metropolitan diversity makes the City an ideal neutral space where urban and royal leadership can collaborate at the intersection of tradition and modernity,” he said.

The Deputy Minister for Small Business Development, Jane Sithole, emphasised the importance of centring rural transformation and traditional structures in national development. “South Africa’s traditional leadership is more than a custodian of culture — it is a strategic partner in unlocking inclusive economic growth,” she said. She noted that development must reach communities where potential remains largely untapped.

Sithole also highlighted government efforts to improve access to development finance for rural small businesses and cooperatives. “These interventions are not merely economic tools — they are instruments of dignity, independence and community resilience.”

Adding the voice of academia, Carol Keshy, Acting Director of the Johannesburg Business School, stressed the pivotal role of education, entrepreneurship and traditional leadership in advancing local economic empowerment. “Every community, from major metros to the most rural village, holds extraordinary potential waiting to be unlocked,” she said.

The Royal Business Breakfast concluded with a shared commitment from government, business, academia and traditional leadership to drive sustainable, inclusive economic growth and ensure that communities — both urban and rural — benefit from emerging opportunities.

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Capricorn District Municipality’s R11m failed Water Plant at Letswatla

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Capricorn District Municipality’s R11m failed Water Plant at Letswatla

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Capricorn District Municipality (CDM) is outraged by the collapse of yet another water project and will demand that the municipal Council urgently institute a full forensic investigation. The defunct R11 million purification plant at Letswatla has never operated since it was built more than a decade ago.

This investigation must include the immediate disclosure of all consultants, engineers and contractors involved, a detailed explanation for the project’s failure, and clear identification of those who must be held accountable.

A decade after its construction, the plant remains a wasted, non-functional asset due to a fundamentally flawed design, the absence of electrification, and a complete failure of municipal oversight. The purification system cannot produce potable water because it is incompatible with the steel reservoir. The reservoir leaks heavily, proving that neither the design nor the workmanship met even minimum engineering standards.

See video here

Despite the site being declared “completed,” Eskom never electrified the plant, meaning it has never been switched on, tested, or commissioned.

To compensate for the defective design, four Jojo tanks were later installed raising questions about why engineers and the municipality approved a system that could never function. Although all components are allegedly on site, the transformer remains uninstalled, the plant is unelectrified, and there is no evidence that the system works.

The original contractor was later blacklisted, which only deepens concerns about CDM’s procurement integrity, contract management, and quality assurance. The community has received no benefit whatsoever from a project funded with public money.

The consequences for residents are immediate and severe. The community relies on a borehole in a neighbouring village, with water pressure so low that only one street receives water at a time. Households often receive water only once a week. Valves repeatedly block including those supplying the local clinic compromising essential health services. A second borehole has been requested for years, yet CDM continues to ignore the community’s pleas.

These failures constitute clear violations of:

The Municipal Finance Management Act – fruitless and wasteful expenditure and failure to ensure value for money;

The Municipal Systems Act – failure to provide basic services;

Supply Chain Management Regulations – defective procurement and poor contract management;

The Water Services Act – failure to provide clean and safe drinking water;

Engineering Council of South Africa standards – as no competent engineer would have approved such a fundamentally incompatible design.

Where the DA governs, we insist on clean, transparent, and accountable governance that delivers real, measurable improvements to the lives of the communities we serve.

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Declaration of GBVF as a National Disaster

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Declaration of GBVF as a National Disaster

RISE Mzansi fully endorses the declaration of Gender-Based Violence & Femicide (GBVF) as a National Disaster. This significant legislative move must ensure that existing safeguards are enforced and strengthened so that every woman and child, and the LBGTQIA+ community are able to live as humans free from fear. Where acts of violence are perpetuated, there must be confidence that the criminal justice system will act accordingly.

GBVF impedes freedom of movement, the ability to study and to earn an income. It even impacts safety within the home, given South Africa’s unacceptable rates of intimate domestic violence. South Africa is in the midst of an epidemic of violence against women and girls, against children, and against LGBTQIA+ people.

RISE Mzansi believes that this crisis requires a holistic approach, beyond just safety, which the National Disaster Declaration must play a role in; with policies on jobs, substance abuse and people’s socio-economic conditions, but the key contributor to this epidemic is that perpetrators act with no fear of consequences. This must stop.

Part of the National Disaster declaration must be about quarterly reporting:

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) must report quarterly on its case load and prosecution rate in relation to GBVF cases

The South Africa Police Service (SAPS) must report on how many dockets and cases relate to GBVF, particularly rape

Stats SA must better highlight the unemployment rate of women.

The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) must be resourced in order to fully advance it mandate of inter alia promoting respect for gender equality and the protection, development and attainment of gender equality by monitoring, investigating, researching, educating, lobbying, advising and reporting on issues concerning gender equality

Parliament must receive a report from the Executive and its agencies on the impact of the National Disaster

Much credit must be given to the women of South Africa, Women for Change and other civil society organisations who have gotten us to this point.

A year from now, we must have made progress, if not the declaration of the National Disaster would have been in name alone. Now more than ever, political will is necessary.

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ANCYL RESOLVING INTERNAL CHALLENGES

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ANCYL RESOLVING INTERNAL CHALLENGES 

The African National Congress (ANC) appreciates and welcomes the successful engagement held between the Secretary General, Cde Fikile Mbalula, and the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL). 

The meeting provided an opportunity for the ANCYL to outline the challenges it had recently confronted and the steps it undertook to address them. The meeting resolved that all suspension letters issued in relation to the matter be immediately withdrawn. It is agreed that the Secretary General of the ANCYL will issue a public apology as part of restoring unity and organisational discipline.  

The ANC commends the ANCYL for demonstrating organisational discipline, maturity and unity of purpose by resolving these matters internally and responsibly. Their conduct reflects a renewed culture of accountability and collective leadership that strengthens both the ANCYL and the broader movement. The ANC expresses full confidence in the ANCYL leadership as they continue to play a decisive role in championing youth development, advancing the struggles of young people, and contributing to the renewal and reconstruction of the movement. 

We call on all members and leaders of the ANCYL to give maximum attention to ensuring the successful convening of the 27th National Congress, from 14 to 17 December 2025, at the University of Limpopo. 

We are assured that the ANCYL will continue to mobilise the energy, creativity and activism of young people in the service of social transformation. The organisation reaffirms its commitment to supporting the ANCYL.  

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Adoption of G20 Leaders Declaration

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Adoption of G20 Leaders Declaration

 

The Democratic Alliance congratulates all of the South African government on securing agreement on the Leaders' Declaration today at the G20 Leaders Summit.

This declaration represents a significant and positive outcome. It reinforces core principles essential to global stability, security and development, including respect for international law and human rights, the peaceful resolution of conflicts, and a renewed commitment to multilateral cooperation.

Importantly, through the declaration, G20 members seek to ease the debt burden on developing countries, strengthen climate-resilience, and support a just transition to sustainable energy systems that have positive implications for jobs and growth.

In addition the declaration welcomes the "Ubuntu approaches" on food security and nutrition, developed under South Africa's G20 Presidency, and sustainable, climate resilient agriculture. This will expanded access to safe, healthy and nutritious food for vulnerable South Africans.

These priorities are vital for South Africa as government seeks to implement the urgent reforms required to turbocharge our economy.

It has been an honour to be a part of this meeting and the team that made this summit not only possible but valuable. As such it represents an important step toward improved, inclusive global cooperation and, closer to home, to the inestimable value of the GNU.

As a partner in the GNU, the DA will work to ensure that the G20 commitments translate into tangible progress at home.

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