Globally, the economic crisis and the threat of a recession have been dominating the news. In fact, some would say that Obama won his campaign on the economy. How would the DA tackle the problem in SA?

The robustness of the South African banking system has shielded us, to a degree, from the credit crunch that has devastated US and European financial markets in the past few months. Our main economic priority remains the eradication of poverty through sustained job-creating economic growth and a significantly improved education system.

Everybody should be given the tools they need to take advantage of their opportunities and fulfil their potential: that is the cornerstone of the DA's vision of an open, opportunity society, and that is the focus of our policies.

Our economic policy promotes low inflation, a minimal budget deficit, lower taxation, a deregulated labour market, enterprise zones, and opportunity vouchers. To assist new entrants into the labour market, for example, we would provide all Grade 12 school leavers with a wage subsidy of R3600 to subsidise employment for 12 months. We would also boost labour intensive export-orientated manufacturing industries to help lower-skilled workers find employment.

For most South Africans, crime is a pivotal issue. Why would a vote for the DA mean a safer South Africa?

The DA has a comprehensive and costed policy to combat crime and make the criminal justice system effective. To prevent crime before it occurs, we will increase the total number of police officers to 250 000. To improve detection rates, we will employ 30 000 more detectives.

To ensure that there is sufficient evidence to prosecute cases effectively, we will increase the number of forensic experts by eliminating all vacancies within six months. To solve the resource crisis, we will establish a national register of police resources to identify those areas where shortages are most acute. To reduce court backlogs, we will employ 500 more prosecutors and establish 24 hour courts.

You have suggested that the new party Cope is not a threat to the DA. Why not?

The DA is an established party, and we enjoy the support of over two million South Africans who voted for us in the 2004 election. And we are growing. Cope is a new party, and its support is untested. It takes a massive amount of time, energy and resources to set up the kind of organisational infrastructure that makes a political party a going concern.

In any event, our voters do not want a re-born ANC. They want an alternative to the ANC. We are the tried and tested alternative; the clear alternative, and that will become clearer and clearer in time. Cope will probably attract the votes of many disillusioned ANC voters.

I do believe that the establishment of Cope is a good thing for the country because it has broken the political logjam. It has made it clear to ANC voters that they can vote for another party. It has legitimised choice, and that is essential in a developing democracy.

If you could change one thing about politics in South Africa, what would it be?

We would make public representatives more accountable to the people who elected them. We need to put in place an electoral system which affords more power to voters than it does to individual leaders of political parties.

The DA agrees with the recommendations of the electoral task team (ETT) chaired by Dr Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert, which were published in 2003. The ETT proposed a proportional representation (PR) electoral system of multi-member constituencies combined with party lists to achieve overall proportionality. The proposed system would:

• Be simple, in that votes obtained by political parties would translate directly into seats.


• Promote accountability by allowing constituency MPs to know who they represent, while the voters would know who they can call to account.


• Encourage responsiveness through the direct link between an MP and a constituency.


• Ensure inclusiveness by allowing small parties and potentially marginalised groups within society to obtain representation via constituencies.

South African voters deserve an electoral system that gives them authority over those who have been tasked to be their public representatives, and we believe that a mixed-PR/ constituency system would go some way to achieving that.

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