Cape Town – This coming weekend, the Democratic Alliance (DA) will hold its Federal Congress, which they claim is the largest and the most diverse in the history of the party.
“It is crucial that we deliberate and vote on policies and resolutions which seek to address the many issues that confront the people of this country,” the DA said in a statement.
The DA has said that they will take the next couple of days to discuss and vote on more than 50 resolutions, which seek to drive their policy agenda. This includes a resolution to reverse the VAT level to the previous 14% level.
“Our task begins with the individual, and ensuring that each South African is provided with the opportunities to live an independent life free from the indignity of life-long dependency on the government,” the DA said, adding that it is their priority to get young people between 18 and 34 into employment.
According to the DA, South Africa’s higher education landscape is disproportionately skewed towards university enrolment as opposed to vocational learning and skills development programmes. Their congress will debate expanding access to tertiary institutions with the roll-out of a government-initiated system of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
Regarding their stance on the land issue, the DA expressed their commitment to the development and implementation of land reform policies that they say extend property ownership, attract investment, and create jobs in the form of win-win partnerships.
They have previously stated their opposition to land expropriation without compensation, saying that they will challenge the policy if it’s adopted in Parliament.
“What is clear is that now there is sufficient support in Parliament to substantially erode property rights from the Constitution,” DA leader Mmusi Maimane has said.
However, the African National Congress has expressly denied that there would be any kind of rights violation.
“We will not allow land grabs…it is illegal. It begins to violate the rights of other South Africans and we will not allow the rights of others to be violated,” ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa said in Parliament last month.
Meanwhile, member of the DA and Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille says she will continue to fight for an open disciplinary hearing. This comes after the DA has charged her with a new offence relating to claims that she did not properly advertise a vacancy.
De Lille’s original disciplinary hearing was postponed last month, however she was summoned to a second disciplinary hearing, which began on Tuesday.
