Photo by John Steenhuisen and Delwin Verasamy
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhausen on Sunday made an impassioned appeal to thousands of supporters not to be fooled by the ANC's National Health Insurance (NHI) election strategy aimed at boosting voter turnout on Wednesday.
Addressing a large crowd of supporters at Willowmore Stadium in Benoni on Sunday, Steenhausen said approval of the NHI bill during election time was an attack on the aspirations of South Africans by the ANC, which was using people's lives and health for political purposes.
“This plan will not address the ANC's corruption and mismanagement that has destroyed public healthcare. Rather it will take away health care from millions of South Africans who have worked hard since 1994 to join the middle class despite the ANC's misrule,” he said.
The aim of the NHI Bill is to provide universal, quality health care to all South Africans.
President Cyril Ramaphosa drew criticism from businesses and civil society groups when he signed the National Health Insurance Bill into law last week, calling the bill “unworkable, too expensive” and inconsistent with the current constitution.
Steenhausen called the bill a populist ploy that will do no good to the country: “We are asking you to make a clear choice for unity and progress, and to reject the social and political forces that are working hard to undermine the gains in freedom made over the past 30 years.”
The DA, which received the second-highest number of votes in the last election, called on its supporters to use their pen to close an ANC chapter filled with “unemployment, corruption and bad governance” and write a new one when they vote on May 29.
“The DA did not come out of nowhere and promise you the sun, moon and sky. We will not wait for elections and try to manipulate you with desperate tactics like the NHI,” he said.
The DA leader said if voters continued to vote for the ANC, the Economic Freedom Fighters and the Patriotic Alliance, the NHS would be implemented, property would be confiscated without compensation, corruption would become rampant and the economy would collapse.
“It will be doomsday for South Africa,” he said.
He added that the government would improve neighbourhood safety through initiatives such as the R1.2 billion LEAP programme which Cape Town claims has already removed more than 27,000 criminals from the streets of the Western Cape.
“Currently, the DA government already runs the best public schools, hospitals and clinics in the country and the DA government is committed to enhancing the dignity of its poorest citizens by providing excellent public education and healthcare, while DA-led Cape Town has invested more money in poor areas than ANC-led Johannesburg and eThekwini combined,” he said.
Some 27 million voters are expected to vote for a new government in what will be the first election in South Africa's history to feature independent candidates.
Another institution, a first for the country, was the three-round voting system, made partly necessary by the introduction of independent candidates.
He added that the DA had banded together with “like-minded” parties to create a multi-party charter and garnered the largest opposition vote since 1994. “Together we can get the 50% plus 1% vote we need to save South Africa,” Steenhuisen said.
Steenhuisen began his second term as DA leader in April last year on a promise to oust the ANC from power through a moonshot deal with the Inkatha Freedom Party and other political parties.
The plan has gained support, including the backing of eight smaller parties, but recent opinion polls suggest the ANC may still not secure a majority as it regains public support ahead of the election.
A new survey published this month by the think tank Social Research Foundation predicted the ANC would get 45% of the vote, the DA 23% and the IFP 5%, meaning the ruling party would not regain power and an all-party coalition would be needed.
The DA and IFP are believed to have been in secret talks with the ANC, some of whose leaders have spoken about the possibility of a national dialogue and a national unity government, while remaining committed to the Moonshot Agreement, a plan by the DA and other smaller parties to oust the ANC from power, also known as a multiparty constitution.
Steenhausen said the multi-party charter would rid the country of corruption by leading ministries with a zero-tolerance policy on corruption.