Letter: Shop for quality

DA Ward 22 chair Ann McDonnell writes:

So, another lockdown level 4.

Our tourism, liquor and restaurant sectors have been dealt another whammy; I hope they can recover.

I have been out of mainstream politics for nearly 3 years and find it fascinating to watch as parties prepare for elections, or in some cases, try to have the upcoming local elections postponed.

An overview of some contenders in our area makes for a couple interesting scenarios.

The ANC cannot pay their own staff salaries, we have watched wholesale looting of funds, SOEs collapse and 75% of their municipalities get extremely negative reports from the Auditor General.

But the most painful for South Africa is soaring unemployment impacting young people, largely young black women under their watch.

The new kid on the block, Herman Mashaba’s Action SA has been active on the Dolphin Coast, targeting DA supporting areas.

He was a good mayor for the DA in Johannesburg, and I was disappointed when he resigned from the party and mayorship.

Remember COPE, ACDP, ATM, UDM, NFP etc? All are one personality parties who had limited sustained success.

Covid and lockdowns have decimated our economy.

While under the same conditions DA-led municipalities like Midvaal, the best performing municipality in Gauteng, and those in the Western Cape have managed to deliver good services and grow their local business sector, so improving lives for their residents.

The DA has good policies, and the pillars of freedom, fairness, opportunity, and diversity translate into clean governance wherever we govern.

So, please consider carefully who you support in the local elections in October.

Like buying food, consider where you get good quality products and service for what you pay.

Registration Weekend is on July 17 and 18, when the IEC will open every voting station – pop in and check your details and change if necessary.