1. Unemployment

Unemployment is the number one challenge facing our country with up to 40% of our people not having jobs. The ID believes that the following needs to be done to stimulate growth and create jobs:

• A massive overhaul of the education system to develop skills
• Remove barriers for small businesses
• Reduce the cost of doing business in South Africa
• Implement a wage subsidy
• End business monopolies by promoting competition in the economy
• Effective functioning of state institutions

2. Poverty

Nearly half of South Africans live in poverty. The ID will fight poverty by making the following interventions:

• The ID will ensure that more poor people receive assistance from the state by introducing a Minimum Income Grant and cleaning up inefficient departments like Home Affairs which prevent people from having the documents they need to access government welfare.
• The Child Support Grant needs to be extended to children up to the age of 18.
• Increasing the amount of free basic water and electricity in poor households.
• We need to ensure that all South Africans can afford basic foods. The ID would introduce a National Food Security Programme that would establish household food gardens with government funded training and support.
• The ID would criminalise food price-fixing to ensure that those who steal from the poor through fixing prices to create huge profits will be punished.
• The ID would train and employ more Social and Youth Workers in our communities.

3. Crime and corruption

• A better trained, better equipped and better paid police force.
• More funding and equipment for Community Police Forums.
• Tougher laws and strong police action to deal with the fight against drugs and Drug Lords.
• The Scorpions and other specialised units to be maintained in order to strengthen the fight against crime and corruption.
• A zero tolerance attitude on corruption, including for corrupt politicians.
• All South Africans to be encouraged to report crime and corruption and those who do so need to be ensured of their safety.
• We need to repair the social fabric of our communities to restore hope to our people, especially the youth.
• The ID would put a stop to jobs for pals and ensure that competent and trustworthy people are employed in government.
• The Arms Deal needs to be independently investigated and those guilty of corruption need to be charged and convicted.

4. Housing

The housing backlog is growing every day. We need to double the housing delivery rate to 500 000 houses per year in order to start reducing this backlog.

• Houses must not be used for political gain. There must be one integrated housing waiting list and the process must be fair and transparent.
• There needs to be a massive expansion of and education about the people’s housing process.
• The ID will promote rental housing for the poorest of the poor.
• The ID would build communities and not just houses.

5. HIV/AIDS

We have lost too many lives to HIV/AIDS due to poor government decisions and their fighting with civil society.

• The ID wants a greater partnership between government, civil society and communities in fighting HIV/AIDS
• We need to re-look at our prevention and education campaigns
• We need to ensure that our programme is based on scientific research and does not promote myths and false cures.

6. Education

Education is a cornerstone of a successful society and the ID believes that several key interventions are needed urgently.

• The ID would introduce a Child Education Grant for poor learners at both primary and secondary school which would cover school fees, transport and uniforms.
• All schools need to be provided with basic infrastructure including water, electricity and sanitation.
• The quality of teaching must be improved through a skills audit of teachers and performance-based bonuses
• Expand school nutrition scheme to secondary schools and to everyday of the week.
• The ID would focus more on Adult Education and functional literacy.

7. Health

South Africa suffers from enormous inequality in its healthcare system. At the moment only 35% of doctors serve 83% of our people, while 65% of doctors serve the 17% of people on medical aid.

• We need to increase access to health care through more clinics, hospitals and emergency services, especially in poor and rural areas.
• The ID would introduce a National Health Insurance Scheme.
• The ID would urgently develop a strategy to retain and attract skills in the healthcare sector.