The DA wants to turn Gauteng into the Western Cape if it wins the provincial elections in May.
This emerged on Wednesday when the party’s Gauteng premier candidate, Mmusi Maimane, and finance spokesman Tim Harris presented their plans for the country’s economic hub.
At the core of the DA’s plan is to create conditions that are conducive to job creation - a strategy that they said had proved effective in the Western Cape.
The province currently boasts the lowest rates of unemployment in the country at 22 percent. Nationally the unemployment rate stands at 34 percent.
The DA claims this is because of the rollout of its own version of the government’s youth wage subsidy.
The party also attributed its success in the Western Cape to its extensive internship programme for graduates and school leavers and the strides it had made in the public school system.
The DA’s strategy includes cutting corruption, interdicting the further rollout of e-tolling and transparency in the provision of housing.
Harris said the DA’s policies were “pro-poor”. He noted that Gauteng was, like the Western Cape, a major hub of rapid in-migration and urbanisation.
“It’s important to note that we provide the biggest allocations for water and electricity in the Western Cape. If you’re indigent you get more free water and more free electricity - it’s a pro-poor story,” Harris said.
He added: “It doesn’t mean we don’t have challenges. It doesn’t mean we don’t have inequality.”
The Star