Cape Town - The DA has launched a second campaign to convince voters that it supports social grants, land redistribution and BEE.
The DA launched its Know Your DA campaign earlier this year which it said was “correcting another falsehood peddled by our political opponents: the lie that we want to bring apartheid back”.
Now the party wants to counter more “falsehoods” it says are spread by the ANC.
“Our opponents say that we will do this (“bring back apartheid”) by taking away people’s social grants, by stopping the redistribution of land and by abolishing Black Economic Empowerment,” said the DA’s Gauteng premier candidate Mmusi Maimane.
“Anybody who has read our policies knows that none of this is true. In fact, the opposite is true.
“The DA supports social grants… because they are vital to protect the poor from the impact of extreme poverty.
“The DA supports land reform… because we must correct the evils of the apartheid system that reserved the best land for whites only.
“The DA supports broad-based Black Economic Empowerment because we want to build an inclusive economy in which everybody has a fair chance of getting ahead in life.
“Our frustration is that, up until now, BEE has focused on the transfer of lucrative shares to a small number of politically connected individuals who have become very rich without starting new enterprises, adding new value or creating new jobs.”
ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said: “It’s good that the ANC is giving leadership to the DA… If, all of a sudden, they are now adopting these important pro-poor positions - which are ANC policies - then they are very welcome to the club! It’s good that even the DA has seen the light…”
Cape Argus