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The Democratic Alliance welcomes the progressive announcements by President Cyril Ramaphosa during his opening of Parliament address. The alignment with DA policy in the list of priority areas announced is a clear indication that our call for a programme of based on rapid economic growth and job creation has been heeded.

The DA has advocated for some of these policies, and thanks to the votes of millions of South Africans who backed the DA's cause, these breakthroughs have landed in the agenda of the GNU.

We welcome with open arms the acknowledgement that growing the economy is the starting point to fix so many social ills and create a just and equal society.

Cutting red tape of public private partnerships is also something the DA put into practice where we govern and called for at a provincial and national level. We head up the critical portfolios that will, amongst others, start an infrastructure-led development plan that will make South Africa a construction site, address food security, ensure a better education for all children and a streamlined and efficient Home Affairs department to give South Africans better access to documents needed to get jobs and start businesses.  We will also play a major role in digital growth, energy security, finance and vital community economies like fishing and forestry.

The review of the VAT free basket of food and a commitment to review the fuel price structure is also something we welcome as progressive steps to start the fightback against poverty.

This is the start of a process that can take the country forward and will be able to address the faltering economy, the unacceptable unemployment rate and cost of living crisis so many South Africans find themselves in.

But we must emphasise that without swift implementation and zero deviation from the reform agenda and pledges, the expectations of so many of our citizens will remain little more than that.

We must see increased private sector involvement in the turnaround strategy of State-Owned Enterprises, especially those that pertain to service delivery. I can say without a shadow of doubt that the DA ministers are committed to the reform agenda and will work tirelessly to achieve it based on evidence-based policy, a zero tolerance for corruption, and private sector involvement.

Most of all, we must see an unwavering commitment from the GNU to implement the real changes that we can bring about. The time for empty promises and defending failure and corruption is now over. The DA will ensure that critical oversight and holding the executive to account, including those DA-led Ministries, never waivers.

We have seen that our Ministers have hit the ground running. They have identified challenges and hurdles and have embarked on solution driven action to turn their respective ships around. South Africans have already seen the DA difference in our municipalities, our Metros and in the DA-run province of the Western Cape. Now they can see the DA difference at a national level.

We will continue to be builders, not breakers.

Issued by John Steenhuisen MP - Leader of the Democratic Alliance