Deputy Speaker, one of the honourable members of the DA spoke very passionately about the forthcoming election campaign and the issues of employment and youth and promised to take that message of the Western Cape's performance to Gauteng. What we need to do is perhaps to let the cold facts speak more clearly. [Interjections.] The quarterly labour force survey - this is embarrassing to members of the opposition and I would suggest they do not cover their embarrassment with interjections. Perhaps take a course in active listening and see whether the facts themselves can embarrass you. [Interjections.]
This is what happened. The quarterly labour force survey published by Statistics SA indicates that for the 12 months up to the end of March, the latest period for which information is available, 199 000 new jobs were created in South Africa. However, let us look at the provincial breakdown and see whether that would make a comfortable election story. In Gauteng, 44 000 new jobs were created in the 12-month period. In the Western Cape, 37 000 jobs were lost in that period. [Interjections.] I suggest that it will be very difficult to persuade the voters of Gauteng that their fortunes will be better in the hands of the DA if we were to take this record as the basis. Thank you very much. [Applause.]