Note to Editors: The following speech was delivered today by the Leader of the Democratic Alliance, John Steenhuisen, at the Eastern Cape Provincial Congress in Gqeberha.
Friends, colleagues, fellow Democrats,
It is wonderful to be back with you here in Gqeberha. In a province that sits at the very heart of South Africa’s story.
The Eastern Cape has given this country giants of courage, vision, and faith.
It has given South Africa talent.
It has given South Africa resilience.
It has given South Africa hope.
But let us also be honest with one another today.
The Eastern Cape has endured neglect for far too long.
Across this province, too many communities are still living with:
collapsing roads,
failing water systems,
broken clinics,
rising crime,
and municipalities that have simply stopped working.
And that is the real crisis we must confront.
Because when municipalities stop working, people’s lives stop moving forward. They have to live in fear. They have to do with second rate services, or none at all. And they have to live with careless government.
But they don’t have to suffer in silence any longer.
Democrats,
If there is one message you must take from this Congress, it is this:
We will get our municipalities working again!
Everything begins there.
Jobs begin there.
Safety begins there.
Dignity begins there.
Growth begins there.
Growth, safety, jobs, and dignity all depend on care and integrity. They rely on a government that puts people first.
And right now, in too many parts of the Eastern Cape, local government has collapsed under the weight of mismanagement, debt, and dysfunction.
Look at Makana, a municipality so dysfunctional that courts have intervened because basic services failed residents.
Look at Inxuba Yethemba, a key agricultural corridor, yet it’s held back by stagnation and infrastructure backlogs.
Look at Dr Beyers Naudé, facing financial distress, governance instability, and collapsing trust.
This is not normal.
This is not inevitable.
This is not fair.
This is the direct result of failed governance.
And while unemployment rises…
while infrastructure collapses…
while municipalities fail…
what do we see from those in power?
We see an obsession with symbolic politics.
An effort to change names of our towns and cities instead of changing lives.
We see politicians feeding, focused on the trappings of power and priviledge
But Democrats,
people cannot drink symbolism.
People cannot eat renaming projects.
Citizens cannot make a living washing the cars of politicians.
And people cannot build a future on political distractions.
The DA is ready to change lives, not names, and we have proven we can do it!
Friends,
The Eastern Cape has the highest unemployment rate in the country.
Tens of thousands of jobs lost from Dimbaza to Wilsonia.
Rural unemployment soaring.
Young people locked out of opportunity.
In some rural communities, three out of every five working-age people cannot find work. Forced to leave their homes in pursuit of opportunities elsewhere, to the cost of families and communities.
That is not just an economic crisis.
This is a social crisis.
Which is a dignity crisis.
Yet, in the neighbouring province, the DA run Western Cape, we have the lowest unemployment rate in the Country.
In the DA run City of Cape Town during this current local government term, 470,000 new jobs have been created. More than any other metro in the Country.
And let us be clear
You will never be able to grow jobs where municipalities are broken.
Investors do not invest where water supply does not flow
Businesses do not expand where roads collapse and crumble into dongas and potholes
Entrepreneurs cannot thrive where government, red-tape and incompetence stands in their way.
But here is the good news.
People of the Eastern Cape don’t have to dream of a world where things work. We don’t have to imagine what living in a working municipality looks like.
We can see it right here in this Province, and everywhere where the DA governs.
Just look at Kouga, rated the best municipality in the Eastern Cape. That’s not my opinion, that’s a fact.
Under DA leadership Kouga demonstrates how:
Drones are used for crime fighting, while police patrol the streets 24-hours a day, in fast cars and on foot.
Innovation is driving infrastructure. Winning the greenest municipality award thanks to their waste management and water leaks detection programmes.
Services are delivered with efficiency and vision.
Sound financial management ensures that money is spent on services that improve the lives of all its residents.
Kouga proves a simple truth:
Where the DA governs, municipalities work for all.
And where municipalities work, lives improve.
That is the model we must now fight for all across the Eastern Cape.
A government that serves its people, and puts the interests of communities ahead of their own. And a government that ensures public money is used for public good, so that people can flourish and prosper.
You know, South Africans are incredible people. We have a fighting spirit, and an undying will to make things work.
In Makhanda, we have seen businesses stepping in to do what municipalities should be doing.
Tarring roads.
Fixing infrastructure.
Overcoming red tape on their own.
But Friends,
It is not the job of businesses to do municipal work. It is their role to make their businesses profitable, to grow the economy and employ people.
Imagine the jobs that could have been created if local government had been a partner instead of an obstacle.
Imagine the growth if municipalities enabled investment instead of blocking it.
Because this province is not lacking in potential.
It has a deep-water port at Ngqura, opening the province up to a global marketplace
It has a strong agricultural sector, and is one of 3 primary locations in South Africa for dairy
It is where many of the world’s most popular cars are manufactured, including the VW Polo, Mercedes Benz C Class and Isuzu D Max bakkies
The Wild Coast is a tourism hotspot, home to a world-renowned wildlife spectacle with the annual sardine run
Yet the economy remains weak, dependent on SASSA grants, and constrained by poor governance where the DA is not in power.
This is not because the people of the Eastern Cape have failed.
But because governance has failed them.
Colleagues,
You cannot build an economy where people do not feel safe, where:
Stock theft in rural areas holds farmers back from growing their businesses
Infrastructure vandalism deprives residents of essential services
And violent crime robs us of our freedom
Crime drives away investment.
Crime destroys opportunity.
Crime traps communities in poverty.
And that is why a functioning local government, working law enforcement partnerships, and professional leadership are essential to rebuilding this province.
Last week the President announced that the SANDF would be deployed to the Eastern Cape to help fight gang violence. Whilst this is welcomed, let’s be clear on something, this is only needed because the SAPS have been hollowed out by corruption, to the point they can no longer serve us.
What we really need is a criminal justice system that puts criminals behind bars, and ensures they stay there until they have served their time and been rehabilitated to play a constructive role in communities.
We need investigative powers to be devolved to local law enforcement authorities in competent local governments, so that we can catch the criminals and bring them to book, and so that we can remove illegal firearms from our streets.
Friends.
Just short of two years ago, the DA entered national government. We did so because it afforded us the most promising opportunity to make meaningful change. At the same time, it kept the breakers in the EFF and MK out of government, which would have been a catastrophe for our economy and our country.
The Government of National Unity is stabilising the country. Confidence is returning. Reforms are beginning. Albeit slow, the progress is clear, as many indicators confirm.
But here in the Eastern Cape, as in other parts of our Country many residents still see little improvement in their daily lives.
Why is that?
Its because the place where policy meets implementation, where the rubber hits the road, our local governments, are broken.
It is because the words of local government are not matched by deeds. Actions must follow promises, as the DA has demonstrated time and time again.
And there is only one fix for that, and it’s up to the voters
If you want real change in your daily life, you need to change the party running your municipality.
As I have said before, you can stay as you are for the rest of your life, or you can change to the DA
Fellow democrats,
Earlier this month, I announced that I will not seek a third term as Federal Leader at our upcoming Federal Congress.
I did so with a full heart and a clear conscience.
Because leadership is not about holding on to positions. It is about building institutions that outlast individuals. Its about attending to the issues, not the personalities in politics.
And together, we have rebuilt this party.
Critics after the 2019 national elections declared the “Death of the DA”
But look at us now!
We brought the DA into national government.
We restored credibility.
And we have positioned the DA to become the largest party in South Africa in the next national and Provincial elections.
That achievement belongs to all of you.
As you await the outcome of your elective congress, I want to take the time to congratulate Andrew Whitfield and Yusuf Cassim, who are both elected unopposed.
This is a clear indication that they understand this province.
They understand its challenges.
And they understand that the path to victory in the Eastern Cape runs through one key battleground, getting our local municipalities working again.
I want to thank you for your leadership, and your vision.
I want to also wish all other candidates standing for positions this weekend.
I have faith in the delegates gathered here today, that you will choose leaders who have the courage, and the determination to see us to our goal, of becoming the largest party in all governments.
Because the 2026 local government elections are not just another election.
They are the launchpad for future provincial influence and real change in people’s daily lives.
Friends,
I know that many people in this province have never voted for the DA before.
Some have been hesitant.
Some have been told myths and lies about who we are.
And some have been persuaded by handouts and bribes
We have to graduate from the politics of promises and identity. We have to embrace the politics of change and governance, where actions speak louder than words. We have to graduate from welfare to sustainable jobs, from handouts to offer a hand-up to those less fortunate in our society.
But things are changing.
One voter at a time.
One community at a time.
One working municipality at a time.
Because where the DA governs, we govern for all. And voters can see it.
The Eastern Cape stands at a turning point.
Politics in this province is fragmenting.
Dissatisfaction is rising.
And voters are increasingly looking for alternatives.
This is our moment. Not to shout louder. But to show that we deliver better.
Not to promise more. But to build powerful relationships of trust.
Because results speak louder than rhetoric.
And so as I conclude, I want to ask one last thing of you today:
Let’s leave this Congress today united, focused and determined.
Go back to your branches.
Go back to your communities.
And tell the people of the Eastern Cape that the Democratic Alliance is ready to get your municipalities working again.
We are ready to fix services.
We are ready to create an environment that enables their businesses to flourish and to create jobs.
We are ready to restore dignity and respect for the rule of law
And, we are ready to unlock this province’s enormous potential.
From Matatiele to Mbizana,
from the Karoo towns to the Wild Coast,
from rural villages to Nelson Mandela Bay
Let us unite behind one mission:
To get the Eastern Cape working again — by getting its municipalities working again, just like Kouga.
Phambili DA, Phambili!
Viva DA, VIVA.
Thank you.