DA leader John Steenhuisen delivers the ‘true state of the nation address'

DA leader John Steenhuisen has described SA as “not a country on the mend but one that is falling apart”.

Delivering what the DA leader called the "true state of the nation address" on Tuesday, Steenhuisen used the occasion to highlight the record of local governments led by his party as an example of what the party could achieve for SA.

He also slammed President Cyril Ramaphosa for not living up to the high expectations of when he was elected five years ago and called load shedding the “most telling example” of ANC government failure.

“There is no better city in the world to visit in the height of summer. But since the people of this city first elected a DA government in 2006, Cape Town has come to represent so much more than just being a world-class tourist destination.

“Cape Town, along with other places where the DA enjoys outright majorities – most of the Western Cape, Midvaal in Gauteng, Kouga in the Eastern Cape, and, more recently, uMngeni in KwaZulu-Natal – provides a glimpse into what South Africa could have looked like nearly 30 years into our democracy.

“In the midst of the accelerating collapse of national government services all around us, best exemplified by permanent load shedding, most people are deeply concerned about the trajectory our country is on.

“While I do not suggest that DA governments are perfect, I am confident that most people would be far more hopeful about South Africa’s future if the national government delivered honest and quality services at the same level as the Western Cape, Midvaal and uMngeni.”

Steenhuisen said SA should look at the Ramaphosa era and not be “carried away by all the shiny new baubles on the tree – the new 10-point plans, the new task teams and commissions, the new tzars and dreams. We get those every year".

“But Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in as president five years ago. He rode in on a promise of reform and was carried to the Union Buildings on a wave of goodwill and euphoria following the disaster that was the ANC government of Jacob Zuma.

“We all know that today there is very little left of that goodwill, and even less confidence that things will improve.”

Turning to load shedding, Steenhuisen said the rolling blackouts were “arguably the most telling of these metrics” showing ANC failure.

“In 2018, South Africa spent a total of six days under load shedding. Since then, it has gone up every year – first to 22 days, then 35 days, and in 2021 we spent 48 days under load shedding.

“But it was in 2022 that the wheels really came off and our country spent an incredible 157 days under load shedding. Sadly, it already looks like 2023 is going to smash that record. Just this past Sunday, Eskom set a dubious new record for the longest ever streak of uninterrupted load shedding: a staggering 984 consecutive hours – and counting.

“This is not a country on the mend. This is a country falling apart.

“Despite all the bluster and PR spin, this is Ramaphosa’s true legacy: he has only added five wasted years to the nine he likes to blame his predecessor for. This is a country that is losing hundreds of billions of rand in productivity, and hundreds of thousands of jobs, to an ANC-made crisis.

“A crisis for which everyone – from the DA to energy experts to media commentators – has been proposing the same simple solutions. But thanks to its ideological stubbornness and its deeply entrenched web of patronage and corruption, those solutions have always been a bridge too far for the ANC.”