John Steenhuisen: DA’s weaver birds are building South Africa

For years, South Africa’s progress has been hampered by political forces prioritizing division and corruption over unity and reform. With the 2024 election leading to a Government of National Unity, there’s a chance to counteract these forces. The Democratic Alliance aims to drive economic growth and job creation through collaborative, reform-focused efforts.

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By John Steenhuisen

Honourable Speaker,

For far too long, our country’s enormous potential has been held captive by political forces that seek to break down, rather than build up.

For well over a decade, South Africans have paid a painful price as economic growth and job creation suffered at the hands of these forces.

Time and time again, they have used populist politics and racial rhetoric to break down any attempt at building consensus over the growth-enhancing reforms our economy so desperately needs.

They have done so deliberately, because it is only by sowing division and preventing reform that they can keep institutions weak, keep the taps of corruption flowing, and stay out of jail over their many misdeeds.

For too long, we have allowed those who seek to break our country down for their own personal gain, to hold back the builders who yearn for a South Africa with a growing economy that creates millions of new jobs.

But the 2024 election, where the people of South Africa took away the ANC’s outright majority and forced the creation of a multiparty government, offers us the most powerful opportunity in recent history to overcome the suffocating grip that the breakers have held on our economy and society.

This Government of National Unity is South Africa’s chance to free itself from populism, division and economic decline.

This is our opportunity to build South Africa into the prosperous country it can be – together.

That is exactly what the Democratic Alliance is going to do in the executive and in Parliament.

We are in this Government of National Unity because we have said loud and clear that we want to build South Africa.

Last night, the President said – and I quote – “The Government of National Unity will pursue every action that contributes to sustainable, rapid economic growth and remove every obstacle that stands in the way of growth.”

In all the portfolios where the DA is represented – both in the executive and in Parliament – we are already moving with speed to do exactly this.

The DA has proudly answered the call to serve South Africa.

And, Mr President, the DA’s weaver birds are already furiously at work to deliver on this vision.

In Agriculture, we are building South Africa by partnering with the private sector to enhance biosecurity, extension services and international trade, to turn this sector into an engine of economic growth and job creation.

In Public Works and Infrastructure, we are exposing corruption and building the foundations to turn South Africa into a giant construction site that grows the economy.

At Home Affairs, we are tackling the visa backlog and reforming the system to bring in the valuable skills we desperately need to help build our country.

In Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, we are unlocking funding from the Just Energy Transition partnership to build the industries of the future.

In Basic Education, we are restoring the dignity to our children by reducing pit toilets and building the skills of the future.

And in Communications and Digital Technologies, we are building a new digital ecosystem to drive the modernisation and digital transformation of our society.

But it doesn’t end there.

In Finance, Trade and Industry, Energy, Higher Education, Small Business Development and Water and Sanitation, DA deputy ministers are also helping to weave the reforms we need to grow our economy.

In Parliament, DA weaver birds are similarly helping to build the home we all want.

Our portfolio committee chairs are going to drive reforms through the legislature, to ensure that any and all legislative obstacles that stand in the way of growth, are removed.

The recent expanded Cabinet Lekgotla has given us the key ingredients we need to accelerate growth and private sector investment in our economy.

The Government of National Unity has identified rapid and inclusive growth to create jobs as our apex priority.

To achieve this, we have committed to a responsible fiscal path that reduces the national debt in order to free up resources for productive investments.

The planned review of sector master plans to identify obstacles to growth, the emphasis on increasing our focus on exports, and our shared commitment to slashing red tape to crowd-in private sector investment, gives us the key ingredients we need to succeed.

I also welcome the policy interventions to expand the basket of food items exempt from VAT, to review and reduce the fuel price, to prevent undue political interference in the public service, and to set up specialised policing units to fight violent crime and the construction mafias.

These policy changes are ones that the DA has long advocated for, and they will make a meaningful impact on reducing the cost of living, enhancing the capacity of the state, and tackling the violent crime that plagues too many of our communities.

While the Government of National Unity has met the requirement for sufficient consensus as outlined in the Statement of Intent on some key matters of economic policy, it is important to acknowledge that there are still areas of divergence that require attention.

For example: the need for universal health coverage is obvious to us all, as are the serious problems of corruption and mismanagement in the public health sector.

But the National Health Insurance in its current form does not do enough to address these problems, while its focus on taking away the rights of medical workers and consumers to access medical aid and private care is misplaced.

The same goes for the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill and some other initiatives.

However, in all of these areas of divergence, I am convinced that we can find a way forward.

It will require us to be honest about disagreements where they do exist, and to work in good faith with one another to find solutions.

Honourable Speaker,

If this Government of National Unity succeeds in delivering on its apex priority of growing the economy and creating jobs, then the builders will defeat the breakers once and for all.

This is because, if we rapidly expand growth and job creation, we will defuse the populist tinder box that the breakers exploit for their own gain.

Let me tell your right now: the single greatest fear of the breakers in this House, is that the Government of National Unity succeeds in growing the economy and making South Africa a better place.

The greatest fear of the breakers is not that South Africa fails.

It would suit them just fine if our country goes up in smoke, because it would fuel the politics of division and destruction that they thrive on.

No, their greatest fear is that South Africa succeeds.

Because if that happens, it will destroy the foundation upon which the breakers have built their politics of resentment and populism.

But the choice between building and breaking is not ours alone.

The creation of the Government of National Unity means that every South African now also stands before a choice: will you help us build, or do you stand with the breakers?

As we put our foot down on the accelerator of economic growth and job creation, we need every South African who wants to be a builder rather than a breaker, to strengthen our hand.

To be clear: this Government of National Unity will not be a Kumbaya chorus.

After all, if you’ve ever seen a sociable weaver’s nest, you will know that each one of them has their own voice and identity, and things can get quite loud sometimes.

As with the weavers, there will be disagreements as we move forward and as each partner in the Government retains their own identity.

Nonetheless, this GNU does broadly represent the builders in South African politics, who want to see a better country for every citizen.

And the truth is that the builders in our society have to make this government work, because the parties who sit on the opposite side of the GNU want to break South Africa beyond all repair through their looting, their populism and their violence.

To every South African out there, I say: now is the time for choosing.

Are you a builder? Or are you a breaker?

If you are a builder, then the time has come for you to help ensure the success of the growth agenda.

Whether you are in the private sector, in academia, in civil society or simply an ordinary South African who loves this country: now is the time to help build a shared future of prosperity for all of us.

This Government of National Unity reflects the will of the people, who have told us loud and clear that they want an end to single party domination in favour of multiparty cooperation.

The DA, alongside our partners, have heeded that call, and we have put forward our best weaver birds to help build South Africa.

But we need your help.

When you drive north from here, you eventually reach a magical part of South Africa known as the Kalahari.

When you get there, you immediately notice that the most successful weaver nests are the ones where as many birds as possible work as hard as possible to build and protect their shared home.

And, whenever they spot a boomslang trying to infiltrate the nest to steal their eggs, they work together to sound the alarm and protect their home.

So it must be for South Africa.

After all the hardship, corruption and mismanagement our country has endured in recent decades, every single citizen now has a role to play in building this country.

As for the breakers?

To them I say simply this: even the wiliest boomslang doesn’t stand a chance, when 60 million weavers unite to build and defend the home that we all love.

That is exactly what South Africa must now do.

Sitting back and allowing the breakers to tear up our Constitution is simply not an option.

Now is the time to harness our great diversity to unlock the talents and contributions of all the builders in South Africa.

No matter where you come from, what language you speak or what your background is: if you are a builder, then you have a role to play in defeating the breakers and taking South Africa forward.

This is the opportunity we have been waiting for.

It is time to seize it with both hands, and for all of us to get to work to build South Africa.

Thank you.