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LOCAL GOVERNMENTMANIFESTO 2011

LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANIFESTO 20111

Foreword 3

1. Introduction 4

2. The DA’s vision 4

3. The DA’s agenda for local government 53.1 Reducing poverty through growth and jobs 5 a) Ensuring clean and transparent government 5 b) Ensuring effi cient and effective government 8 c) Planning and regulating for growth 9 d) Building and maintaining infrastructure 9 e) Making government more accessible 9 f) Building strategic partnerships 10 g) Using resources sustainably 10 h) Building human settlements 10 i) Fighting crime 103.2 Delivering services for all 11 a) Caring for the poor 14 b) Providing clean water 14 c) Providing electricity 14 d) Managing sewerage 16 e) Ensuring refuse removal 16 f) Delivering primary healthcare 16 g) Facilitating social development 16

4. Conclusion 17

CONTENTS


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 effi ciencies and improved fi nancial 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 fi ve years. And then it is up to you to make a choice. You can choose fi ve years of corruption, ineffi ciency, 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 ZilleLeader of the Democratic Alliance


1. INTRODUCTION 2. THE DA’S VISION 3. THE DA’S AGENDA FOR LOCAL

GOVERNMENT


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 fi ve 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 • Traffi c 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.

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.

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 addiction and alcohol abuse. It generates despair. In short, poverty robs people of the chance to follow their dreams and lead lives they value.

In order to slay the dragon of 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 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 • Require councillors and offi cials to disclose their fi nancial interests every year to ensure there are no confl icts of interest

• Cut out all wasteful and fruitless expenditure on items like luxury cars and lavish parties that benefi t politicians, but not the people

• Open council and sub-council meetings to the public, including committees and sub-committees. Only meetings that require confi dentiality (such as discussions over staffi ng and legal issues) will remain closed

• Establish competent and independent audit committees to scrutinise and investigate issues identifi ed by the auditor general

• Where appropriate, establish Forensic Investigation Units to investigate allegations of corruption

HOW THE DA INCREASED BEE THROUGH OPENING UP TENDERS IN CAPE TOWNWhen 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 offi ce, 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 fi rms increased from 40% to 68%.

THE DIFFERENCE THAT DA GOVERNMENT MAKES – THE CASE OF KOUGAIn 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 fi nances were sound and services were delivered like clockwork. In 2002, the DA lost control of the municipality to the ANC due to fl oor-crossing. By 2004 – just two years later – the municipality was bankrupt again.

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

• Conduct regular human resource audits to ascertain skills gaps and assess the diversity of the staff complement

• 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.


• 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 • Effi ciently collect fi nes 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

Finally, for a municipality to be effi cient 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 effi ciencies

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 effi ciently and quickly, with as little hassle as possible.

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

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


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. Effi cient fi nancial management is crucial for collecting revenue and spending money effectively.

Effi cient 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 DA will: • Ensure all DA councillors and mayors are “fi t-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

approvals, health and safety, traffi c 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 fl ush 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 effi cient 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 • 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 ACCESSIBLE

Accountable governments understand the importance of making it easier, not harder, for people and businesses to interact with government. Stonewalling offi cials, 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

HELEN ZILLE – BEST MAYOR IN THE WORLDIn 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.

SETTING THE BENCHMARK FOR FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT – THE CASE OF MIDVAALThis year, Midvaal – the only DA-governed municipality in Gauteng – received a clean bill of fi nancial 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.

THE DA COUNCILLORS’ CHARTERAs 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 offi ce.


To manage resources effectively and sustainably, the DA will: • Make ineffi ciency 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 effi cient. Our local governments

will produce energy effi ciency plans with targets to minimise energy usage within offi cial buildings and public spaces

• Conduct energy audits of municipal buildings and retrofi t municipal buildings to reduce usage of energy from fossil fuel sources

• Move towards the installation of energy effi cient 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

• 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 densifi cation and contain urban sprawl • Manage housing opportunity lists fairly and develop a standard, transparent, and fair

process for selecting housing benefi ciaries 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 fi ghting 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 traffi c offi cials 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 traffi c

offences and by-law contraventions to reduce pressure on magistrate’s courts • Establish municipal police services responsible for traffi c policing, crime prevention

and enforcement of municipal by-laws • Ensure municipal policing services are effi cient, effective and responsive through

training, training and more training to improve the quality of policing staff • Expand the number of municipal police in areas where crime rates are particularly

high • Assess each offi cer’s fi tness on a quarterly basis. This will be supported by a police

fi tness programme requiring offi cers 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 specifi c priority

crimes, particularly through intelligence-driven policing

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

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

profi t 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.


• Create partnerships with local businesses and communities to establish neighbourhood watches, crime patrols and other community policing strategies, including rent-a-cop

• 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.

programmes with externally contracted municipal policing staff • Improve discipline in municipal police services by ensuring enhanced and reliable

disciplinary procedures

REDUCING CRIME WITH SPECIALIST UNITSCape 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 – traffi c police offi cers in unmarked cars that target

unsuspecting speedsters, drunk drivers and reckless drivers

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 fi rst 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.


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

• 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

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 IS 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.

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 qualifi ed 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.

HOW WATER MANAGEMENT DEVICES ASSIST THE POOR IN

CAPE TOWN

These devices provide each household with 200 litres of water a day, free, at the normal fl ow 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.


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.

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

D) MANAGING SEWERAGE

In some places human waste fl ows 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 fl ushable toilets and appropriate

bulk infrastructure • 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 specifi c area cleaning where

required • Identify and manage landfi ll 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 • 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

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 fi gures (January 2011) show an 80% TB cure rate, the best of any metropolitan area in South Africa.


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 effi ciently to more people.

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

NOTES:

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