Fact Check: Democratic Alliance's Claims of Employing 8 out of 10 in Western Cape Debunked

• The Democratic Alliance claimed that it has managed to get eight out of 10 people in the Western Cape employed since taking over governance
• During its manifesto launch in Tshwane in February 2024, DA leader John Steenhuisen made this bold assertion
• Africa Check debunked his claim and proved that the political party did not create that many jobs

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, has covered policy changes, the State of the Nation Address, politician-related news and elections at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News for over seven years.

JOHANNESBURG — The Democratic Alliance, which has governed the Western Cape since 2009, has made a few claims about its performance since then. One claim was that the party created jobs for eight out of 10 people, which was debunked.

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Claims DA got 80% of the WC population employed debunked

According to Africa Check, DA leader John Steenhuisen, in his speech during the party's manifesto launch in Tshwane in February, claimed that the party ensured that eight out of 10 people in the province were employed.

However, according to Statistics South Africa's Quarterly Labour Force Surveys for the third quarter of 2023 (from July to September), when the DA published its manifesto, unemployment in the Western Cape was at 20.2%. This means that about two out of 10 people were unemployed.

However, this does not mean that 80% of Western Cape residents were employed. An unemployed person is someone who did not have a job at the time of StatsSA's survey and was either actively job hunting or were set to start a new job in the future. This also includes those who are unemployed and want to work but have a reason for not seeking employment, like no jobs in their area. Going by this definition, the DA's claim is off.

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South Africans condemn DA member putting apartheid in a positive light

In another Democratic Alliance-related story, Briefly News reported that a member of the DA said life was better under apartheid.

The female member spoke at the DA's manifesto launch and claimed that Tshwane was cleaner under the apartheid regime. She faced severe criticism from the public.

Source: Briefly News