Steenhuisen accused of being intolerant of party competition in Western Cape
Steenhuisen made remarks about mercenary parties like the PA, Rise Mzansi, GOOD and NCC trying to unseat his party in the Western Cape.
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has been accused of intolerance to competition in its “home ground” after his “why are they coming to the Western Cape” remarks during an election campaign speech.
He told party supporters the biggest risks to the province ahead of the elections was voter complacency, as well as parties including Gayton McKenzie’s Patriotic Alliance (PA), the newly founded Rise Mzansi, GOOD Party and National Coloured Congress (NCC).
"Why are these political mercenaries in some small parties obsessed with targeting the Western Cape – the only province that works?" – @jsteenhuisen
— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) April 6, 2024
✅ 300 000 new jobs in a year
✅ 27 000 arrests made by LEAP officers
✅ Schools work
The real enemy of progress is the ANC! pic.twitter.com/Q0157t6Tv4
‘IMAGINE HOW HE BEHAVES IN CLOSED MEETINGS,’ SAYS MCKENZIE
“The biggest risk to continued progress and building a better future for all of us in this province is complacency and mercenary parties like the PA, Rise Mzansi, GOOD and NCC. They are not interested in taking on the ANC,” said Steenhuisen.
“Why are they not campaigning in Limpopo and North West? Why are they coming to the Western Cape to try to unseat the only government that created 300,000 jobs last year? Why are they coming here to the only government that arrested more than 27,000 criminals in the past year? Why are they coming here to an economy that works?,” he added.
Business Day reported that PA leader Gayton McKenzie said: “If this man behaves and thinks in these territorial terms regarding the Western Cape and opposition parties publicly, can you imagine how he behaves in closed meetings? I was there and I was shocked every day, just as some of you are shocked. ”
STEENHUISEN BEHAVES LIKE THE TAXI INDUSTRY – RADIO PERSONALITY
The publication said Radio presenter Ashraf Garda compared the speech to how the taxi industry responds to competition.
“Reminds me of the taxi associations, which unilaterally mark out zones and they don’t want other taxis to enter. And then the metered taxis want to push the Ubers and Bolt out of their self-demarcated turf. Imagine if Telkom banned the arrival of the mobile industry in the 1990s because it’s ‘their right’ to ‘own the industry because it’s their turf,” he reportedly said.
“Elections, as in business, are determined by service delivery to markets. Markets decide. The only reason we are talking about a coalition is because the governing party has governed miserably in recent years and the DA, the EFF and social justice have not filled that space adequately. Voters are looking at options. No party — not the ANC, DA, EFF and the many smaller parties — have the right to determine who owns space. That right is granted and taken away at an election,” the publication further reported.
DA COUNCILLOR RENALDO GOUWS DEFENDS STEENHUISEN’S COMMENTS
However, DA councillor Renaldo Gouws defended the party, saying: “When the DA warned you against [former president Jacob] Zuma, you wrote the DA was fearmongering. When the DA warned you about cadre deployment, you wrote the DA was fearmongering. When the DA warned you about [President] Cyril Ramaphosa, you wrote the DA was fearmongering.”
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