‘Zuma, we want jobs, not jets’

ANA

Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane addressed hundreds of supporters in Bree Street in Johannesburg on Thursday, where he unveiled his party’s ‘Jobs not Jets’ billboard ahead of the 3 August 2016 local government elections. PIC. Siphelele Dludla/ANA

Mmusi Maimane has again called on the president to dump his ‘R4bn presidential jet’ project in favour of job creation.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Thursday took its local government elections campaign to the doorstep of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in the central business district, where it unveiled its “Jobs Not Jets” billboard in front of hundreds of supporters clad in blue T-Shirts.

The DA shut down the city’s busy Bree Street and unveiled the billboard taking a swipe at

President Jacob Zuma’s imminent purchase of a presidential jet reportedly worth R4 billion.

Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula last month confirmed that the Department of Defence would acquire a new presidential jet‚ but she denied there was a preferred option or that it would cost R4 billion.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane on Thursday said Zuma should cancel the multibillion-rand jet deal and prioritise job creation.

“Once again, the requirements of one person trump the real needs of 8.9 million others. Taking R246 million of your money wasn’t enough, now Zuma wants to take R4 billion more for a jet. We want jobs, not jets,” Maimane told his audience of supporters.

Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane addressed hundreds of supporters in Bree Street in Johannesburg on Thursday, where he unveiled his party’s ‘Jobs not Jets’ billboard ahead of the 3 August 2016 local government elections. PIC. Siphelele Dludla/ANA

Maimane said the R4 billion could instead help create jobs for young people, adding the money could get 80 000 new entrepreneurs and give 53 000 students an education.

The DA leader also said the ANC had failed to protect black people, that they were unemployed and that it had forgotten them.

Supporters from Meadowlands, Soweto, told African News Agency (ANA) they were going to vote for the DA because it promised them jobs. They said they were let down in previous years by the ANC and had remained jobless.

“We will support the DA because it is talking to our aspirations after many broken promises of the ANC. We are tired of not working,” Joyce Selemela said.

“I am a DA at heart. I like it because it will give us jobs, as we are currently unemployed,” Amanda Manana said.

Soon after the DA unveiled its billboard, ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa tweeted: “The President requires a new jet. That doesn’t mean stopping with job creation efforts. The two are not mutually exclusive.”

DA mayoral candidates in Gauteng for the August 3 local government elections and other party officials walked with Maimane to the ANC headquarters at Luthuli House after unveiling the billboard. They intended to deliver a memorandum to ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe.

A minor scuffle ensued between ANC security guards, SAPS and DA officials as Maimane was denied entry until an ANC official arrived to receive the memorandum.

On Wednesday, the DA claimed that a group of self-proclaimed ANC supporters attempted to stop them from flighting the billboard, demanding to know what was behind the blue sheet covers and hurling rocks at the employees of the private company.