Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen said on Friday that the DA is working hard to bring its track record of good government in the Western Cape to all of South Africa, next year.

Steenhuisen wrote in his weekly letter Straight Talk, that by signing a pre-election agreement with seven other “like-minded parties” to form the Multi-Party Charter, the party has changed South Africa’s political landscape from unipolar to bipolar, offering an alternative government with a credible pathway to power.

“I believe we have everything to fight for in 2024. But voters need to understand that a successful Charter requires a big, strong DA, just as a shopping centre requires a strong anchor tenant to bring the stability and attract the footfall that enables the smaller businesses to thrive and make a valuable contribution,” he said.

He noted that with a strong DA mandate for the Western Cape in 2024, the DA will continue to bring progress for residents in the province.

He expressed delight in the latest Social Research Foundation poll, which found that the DA’s support is at 31%, while the latest Brenthurst Foundation poll suggests the party has the highest favourability in South Africa, at 37%.

“This is extremely encouraging and reflects the great work the DA is doing on several fronts. I am particularly proud of our recent achievements in the Western Cape. They show there is nothing wrong with South Africa that cannot be fixed by a caring, capable government that partners with civil society to improve lives and bring progress,” he said.

This month, the province was awarded 100% unqualified audits across all 14 departments, as well as each of its 11 entities, for 2022/23.

Steenhuisen explained that this is attributed to a "relentless focus on transparency and accountability” in the belief that clean government provides the foundation for service delivery and economic activity that improves lives.

“Unsurprisingly, the province also continues to have the lowest unemployment rate in South Africa, with 54 000 new jobs created in the last quarter. Jobs are created when people have confidence in the future and are therefore willing to invest in new or existing businesses,” he said.

He highlighted that the Western Cape has a R7-billion budget to end loadshedding over the next three years, which will enable R69-billion of private sector investment in energy. This in turn will attract more investment and create more jobs, he added.

The Census data released this month showed that the Western Cape province leads in delivery of water, sanitation, and waste removal services, despite receiving much less funding than other provinces, Steenhuisen said.

He explained that the Western Cape is also the only province where the murder rate is trending downwards. This, he said, is owing to the more than 1 200 provincial law enforcement officers trained under the Law Enforcement Advancement Programme in partnership with the City of Cape Town.

He added that working with community policing forums and the South African Police Service, the LEAP programme focused on murder hotspots in the province, explaining how the province achieved an overall 5.5% decrease in the murder rate in the last quarter.