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At a press briefing in Kimberley today, DA Leader John Steenhuisen announced the Democratic Alliance (DA) Premier Candidate for the Northern Cape Province: DA Provincial Chairperson Isak Fritz MPL.

Today’s announcement will lay yet another stone in the foundation of the DA’s plan to rescue South Africa from decades of entrenched ANC cadre deployment, corruption, and mismanagement which has brought the province of the Northern Cape to its knees.

This is a province of immense, yet untapped potential that has been squandered at the hands of the ANC, bringing further suffering and misery to its people.

The DA can win the Northern Cape, and with the help of Isak Fritz and his team, we can bring clean and excellent governance that delivers opportunity for all.

Isak Fritz is a longstanding member of the Democratic Alliance, having been actively involved in the party for nearly three decades.

He has served diligently and excellently at branch and constituency level between 1996 and 2001, on party election campaigns in the Northern Cape with then Federal Leader, Helen Zille, and on a number of screening and selection panels for public representatives in the province.

Isak has been a public representative in the provincial legislature since 2014, serving as Caucus Chairperson since 2016, and as Chief Whip since 2021.

He is a member of the the social development and health portfolios where he has passionately championed the issues of access to quality healthcare, education, and social services for the upliftment of Northern Cape communities across the province.

In 2017, Isak was awarded a Diploma in Advanced Governance and Public Leadership from the Wits School of Governance at the University of Witwatersrand. This technical and academic knowledge, along with the practical experience of serving as a public representative, have made him a formidable public representative and leader in his province, and an ideal candidate for Premier.

During his time as a Member of the Provincial Legislature, Isak has actively and persistently fought for the rights of healthcare workers, including those who unfairly lost their jobs or were not paid, and those whose appointments dragged on because of administrative bungles.

He also has a solid understanding of the constitutional framework that determines provincial competencies and governs provincial legislatures, which enables him to spearhead effective campaigns for greater devolution of powers to provinces.

Isak Fritz’s main priorities for fixing the Northern Cape include:

Ending load shedding and cutting red tape to get the Northern Cape economy working and growing;

Fixing the broken health system to provide access to quality healthcare in even the most remote corners of the province;

and

Fixing and fast tracking the roll out of basic services by using the Northern Cape Department of Co-Operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs as an incubator for broken municipalities where a focus to fix the Northern Cape from the ground up will be priority number one.

In the next nine months, Isak will travel across every inch of the vast Northern Cape, winning the hearts and votes of communities in towns even in the most far-flung rural areas of this province.

The quest to grow party support is non-negotiable if we are to rebuild the Northern Cape, with Isak Fritz at the helm.

In the last election, the ANC in the Northern Cape clung to power with less than a single percent of the vote.

Never before has the ANC in the Northern Cape come so close to losing its majority.

With the announcement of the Multi-Party Charter for South Africa, Northern Cape voters now have every reason to be excited about change that is now within reach.

If the Northern Cape wants a government that delivers, its people must register to vote in 2024.

This Premier Candidate announcement shows that the DA is ready to govern the Northern Cape in 2024.

It is time that we restore service delivery, uplift millions of forgotten citizens, and reignite pride and a sense of belonging to the people of this precious but neglected province.

Issued by John Steenhuisen MP - Leader of the Democratic Alliance