This article was updated on 28 February to reflect DA comment.

A provincial police service. A provincial train service.

That’s what the DA is promising South African voters – in conflict with current legislation and, at least partially, the party’s own manifesto.

DA election posters state, without explanation: “A provincial rail service for all”, accompanied by the party’s logo.

Some voters may take the posters to mean that it is within the party’s remit to make a provincial rail service happen, but that is not currently the case.

What provincial governments are able to do when it comes to public transport is constrained by the Constitution. While Schedule 4 of the Constitution lists public transport as one of the areas of governance subject to “concurrent national and provincial legislative competence” – in other words, a shared responsibility – national government is still ultimately responsible for “legislation, policy formulation, coordination of its implementation, strategic planning and leadership” when it comes to the rail sector, to quote the government’s 2017 White Paper on National Rail Policy.

The DA knows this. In the most charitable reading of its posters, the party might be assumed to be saying “vote for us, and when we are in charge of national government we will devolve control of the rail system to provinces” – in the same way that the EFF’s manifesto essentially says “vote for us, and when we are in charge of national government we will outlaw individual land ownership”.

In the most cynical reading of its posters, the party is depending on voters believing that it is currently within the DA’s power to bring in its own rail and police services in the provinces it governs.

But to complicate matters, the DA’s election manifesto does not promise voters even that it will fight for the introduction of provincial rail service.

Instead, the manifesto states that a DA national government “will look to devolve the operation of train services in well-functioning metros, such as the City of Cape Town”.

This is quite different, since it involves controlling train services at the metro level rather than the provincial level.

The notion of “provincial rail service” also conjures up the image of an efficient train network linking an entire province, like the Western Cape, when in fact the DA’s manifesto compares what they have in mind to the MyCiti bus model, which only services Cape Town itself.

The idea of giving more power over rail services to local metros is one already promoted by civil society groups dealing with public transport, and national government has also indicated that this is the direction in which it intends to move.

“At the moment, everything has to go through the Prasa head office in Pretoria and this red tape means things take longer to get done,” Unite Behind’s Zukie Vuka told Daily Maverick.

“We were told by a Prasa official that even just to get toilet paper for the stations, they have to get approval from Pretoria. So we agree that metros should get more control, no matter which political party runs them.”

Vuka says, however, that the organisation is “highly doubtful” that the DA would “have the political power” to deliver on its campaign poster promise of provincial rail service.

“We have to keep in mind the timing of the DA’s promises,” Vuka says. “The fact that elections are around the corner [means] we have to take everything political parties say with a pinch of salt.”

Then there’s the DA’s twin campaign promise of provincial police service – an even more outlandish pledge, given that the party’s Western Cape government has repeatedly run up against the limits of its Constitutional powers when it comes to provincial policing.

But again, what the DA’s election manifesto says on this topic is not quite the same as what its campaign posters promise.

The manifesto proposes moving “procurement of goods and services to provincial level” to enable police to “get the resources they need quicker”.

It also proposes “devolving part of the policing budget to police station level to address specific needs, and bring in line with the move to devolve the competency, where appropriate on a provincial level”.

This is a far more tentative proposal than that expressed by the DA’s posters, which effectively suggests a provincially-controlled police service operating independently from the national SAPS.

The Institute for Security Studies’ Gareth Newham says that there are indeed some good arguments for devolving policing to local levels.

“The key argument for devolved policing is that they are therefore more likely to be responsive and accountable to local concerns. This is because devolving policing results in smaller police agencies which are easier to control and where necessary, easier to reform if they go rogue,” Newham told Daily Maverick.

“However, whether policing is effective and responsive is not a necessary outcome of devolution. If there is inappropriate political interference, poor leadership and governance, even small police agencies will more likely resemble an armed gang than a public service.”

The idea of establishing provincial police agencies is not impossible, says Newham, but in terms of current law it could only be effected by national government.

“So the only way that the DA could establish a Western Cape Police Service would be if the ANC supported its establishment, or if the DA won a national majority during general elections,” Newham says.

The DA was unable to respond to Daily Maverick’s request for comment on these matters on Wednesday.

On a number of levels, however, it would appear that the DA’s campaign posters risk misleading voters.

The issue also harkens back to a criticism of the DA made by former head of policy Gwen Ngwenya when she resigned from her position in January 2019.

In her leaked resignation letter, Ngwenya charged that the DA placed more emphasis on “temporary billboards” than on “developing a longer-lasting comprehensive policy blueprint for the country”.

The apparent conflict between what the DA’s posters say, and what its election manifesto actually contains, suggests a degree of policy confusion within the DA that should be concerning to party strategists given that elections are just over two months away.