Mr C Smit (DA)

What is your political background and what attracted you to your political party?

Before I got into politics I was a business man, I was then invited to a DA rally by a former employee where the former DA leader Ms Helen Zille was present. There were other many other provincial leaders who were also present, so we went to visit a couple of RDP houses and old people in the community. After that I was then invited to the local municipality constituency office where there was a committee meeting with the councillors. It was then through my mentor who was an active member of the DA who took me under his wing to mentor me and instil the philosophy of looking after the poor instead of the rich because the rich can look after themselves. I then became an active member and I started launching branches in the Mokopane town, because most of the established branches were in town. So within three months I launched two branches, in the 2009 election I wrote my membership in January and in March I became the MCC as well as the election manager for the municipality. In December 2009, I was approached to apply for a councillor vacancy which I then successfully attained and this was a year before the local government elections in 2011. Within my first year as a councillor, I was running three businesses at the time whilst doing my BTech concurrently and I managed to become the top councillor in my constituency. It was indeed tough, but I applied myself fully to my commitments and exercised effectively my leadership skills. Needless to say that I passed my Btech cum laude in light of all the things I had to juggle. I started doing a lot of rural work, and i challenged the local municipality due to being displeased with how the administration was run in the municipality. In 2011 after the elections we managed to get five councillors, I then approached the opposition to come and work together because we had the same mandate which is service delivery.

In 2014 I was not planning to come to Parliament, but the applications were opened but at that I sat in the executive committee in the municipality. However, there were applications opened to apply within the party to become a Member of Parliament. I then applied in consideration of the advise that came from senior members of the party, I went through the interviews and I was then placed number six in the Limpopo list.

What does your job as an MP entail?

In the party we have a valuation programme, a performance management system which subscribes to three criteria that we have to comply with with regards to your responsibilities, select committee responsibilities and legislative body which is the NCOP. With my select committees, they are clustered together – there is two select committees that are clustered together, we are three members of the DA serving on the two clusters. One is Communication and Public Enterprise which also includes Science and Technology, the other one is Rural Development and Land Reform, DAFF and Environmental Affairs. There is eight portfolios that we serve as three MPs but we decided them up where each member is assigned to, but that does not mean we cannot attend other committees within the cluster. The second sections is the legislative responsibility to ensure that I represent my constituency in that, and thirdly, its my responsibility to my constituency to ensure that I visit and do oversight and take up my constituency responsibilities. My constituency consists of two municipalities, one is Mogalekwena (in Limpopo) which is made up of 32 wards and 179 villages and three townships and a town. I also have Blouberg municipality which consists of 22 wards which is all the way closer to the Botswana and Zimbabwe boarder.

What is your impression of the Fifth Parliament?

When I arrived here it was much different than what I expected, it is very chaotic. I am quite happy that I came to the NCOP, it is a very good space to understand the concept of legislation, whereas the NA deals more with oversight. Also understanding the concept of cooperative governance, we are the only government body that has the power over local and provincial government.

What is most interesting about your constituency work thus far?

The interesting thing is the fact that I get to interact with different people and getting that insight from people on the impact that government has on people. Hearing all these different views from people provides me with an in depth understanding of what our people expect from their government.

What are you most passionate about professionally and personally?

I grew up in a farm out of a family of farmers on the boarder between SA and Botswana, I learnt a lot about culture and appreciating culture and language. I’m going through life understanding what is to be privileged and understanding the times when you have nothing at all. Also appreciating the differences in people and respecting them and keeping your feet on the ground and never thinking that you are better than anyone else, even though a lot of people would give me special treatment because I’m an MP. I am passionate about having a positive influence and building on the foundation of respect. Professionally, I am passionate about my constituency and I’m working very hard to ensure that my constituency will succeed and delivers its mandate to the community.

What is your message to South Africa?

I would like to say people need to take responsibility, we are all shareholders in this big company called South Africa. If we see things going wrong, we should not sit back and let it go wrong that’s when your vote actually goes to waste. Don’t sell your life or your children’s lives for something that it will only last a couple of days and hours or for a parcel. People should not be afraid to take chances, and so if it means you have to take a chance on the DA to better improve your life, I encourage people to do so because South Africans’ lives need to improve.