Propaganda Ministry puts South Africa on the road to oppression

2 May 2014

Note to editors: The following speech was delivered by DA Parliamentary Leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko MP, during the DA Mpumalanga Final rally in eNtokozweni today. 

Sanibonani bantu baseNtokozweni. 

Good morning. Goeie more.

It is great to be in eNtokozweni - the Place of Happiness - today. 

Just looking around today, I see South Africans who are happy, not because things are going well, but South Africans who are happy in spite of the fact that this town is suffering.

eNtokozweni is suffering like hundreds of towns in Mpumalanga and around South Africa.

Abantu base South Africa baswele ngaphansi kukahulumeni we - ANC, ohlulekile ukunikezela ngamanzi nokuthuthwa kwendle.Uhulumeni ohlulekile ukunikezela ngemfundo esezingeni eliphezulu.Uhulumeni ohlulekile ukunikezela ngemisebenzi.

[South Africans are suffering under an ANC government that has failed to deliver clean water and sanitation. 

A government that has failed to deliver quality education. A government that has failed to deliver jobs.]

This is why many residents of this town must drive an hour away to the Komati mine just in the hope of getting some contract work.Contract work helps. But it is not a job. It doesn't pay the bills every month. 

It doesn't help us to feed our families every single day of the year.

But still, in spite of all this, the people of eNtokozweni still manage to smile and welcome us with such warmth today. This is a testament to our South African spirit. Even in the face of poverty and despair - we are grateful for our families and the little hope that we have left.

Ngo - 1994, sasinethemba lokuthi i-South Africa izoba indawo yentokozo.

[In 1994, we had much hope that the whole of South Africa would be a place of happiness.]

At first, there was progress. The ANC helped many South Africans. But with each election that the ANC won, the ANC started to change. With every election that the ANC won, the more arrogant, complacent and corrupt the ANC became.

Twenty years after 1994, Zuma's ANC takes your money and wastes it on million rand cars, luxury hotels and Nkandlas. Corruption has infiltrated every single office of the ANC.

In his State of the Province Address this year, Premier David Mabuza described corruption as a cancer that eats away meagre resources meant for the poor. But Premier Mabuza is the first to take these "meagre resources" away from the poor and buy himself R5 million luxury cars with public money. So how can he complain when President Zuma also takes R246 million that was meant for the poor to build himself a huge palace at Nkandla?

The ANC only fights to defend President Zuma and his corruption so that they themselves can carry on looting the resources that are meant for the poor.

Just this past Monday, members of Parliament gathered to honour 20 years of democracy and the legacy of President Nelson Mandela in Parliament. But the ANC had different plans. While we honoured Madiba's legacy outside the doors of Parliament, the ANC was working hard to destroy that legacy inside Parliament.

On the special committee that the Speaker established to investigate President Zuma's involvement in the corruption at Nkandla, the ANC was there with one instruction from Luthuli House - protect President Zuma!

One of the ANC MPs even said with pride that he was there to fulfill the instructions of Luthuli House. He even bragged that he was not representing the people of South Africa in Parliament - only his bosses in the ANC.

Even the ANC's Deputy Chief Whip in Parliament couldn't tell the opposition what the ANC's plan was to complete the committee's work. She couldn't say so because she was also there to do the bidding of Luthuli House and shut the committee down as quickly as possible!

The ANC even issued a veiled threat to the opposition. They said that we are lucky to live in a country where the president can be subjected to investigation without people turning up in body-bags. Body-bags? In Parliament?

If this is what the ANC is brazen enough to say in Parliament, what are they saying behind closed doors? What are they saying on the streets of our country?

Comments like this threaten our hard won democracy. It risks putting us back on the road to oppression. If the ANC had the will, they would fight corruption. They would fight tyranny. If the ANC wanted to fight corruption, then we would still be working day and night in the ad hoc committee to report to the people of South Africa.

But these ANC MPs shamelessly used their majority to shut the committee down! If the ANC was serious about fighting corruption, if it wanted to show the people of our country that it acts in their best interest, then it would have continued the work of the Nkandla Committee.

No, the ANC again chose to protect President Zuma rather than protecting the people of South Africa.

The ANC does not like it when the people know the truth so now they want to take away our right to question authority - they want to take away our very freedom of speech.

They tried to "classify" one of the reports on Nkandla as secret, when it wasn't. They write laws like the Secrecy Bill so that they can keep ANC corruption a secret. And now, Zuma's ANC wants to set up a Propaganda Ministry (see M&G report).

If the ANC wins this election, President Zuma will reportedly set up a so-called "Information Ministry" that will only tell the people the ANC's good stories. The stories that they want you to believe. And if President Zuma signs the Secrecy Bill into law, this department of information will have a devastating effect on South Africa.

Other countries that also have so-called "Information Ministries" include Zimbabwe, Russia, and China. In fact, the last time South Africa had an information ministry was under apartheid. There can be no clearer sign that the ANC wants to take us off the road towards a mature democracy, and put us on the road to a one party state.

A propaganda ministry can only undermine freedom of information and freedom of speech. It will undermine the ability of journalists to expose corruption. And it must be fought with everything we have!

This is the ANC under President Zuma:

An ANC that refuses to fight corruption. 

An ANC that is afraid of the people knowing the truth. 

And an ANC that cannot create jobs.

The DA will continue to fight for justice until President Zuma answers for his role in the Nkandla scandal. We will fight against corruption. We will fight against any Propaganda Ministry. And we will fight for jobs in South Africa.

Zuma's ANC has only created one job for every ten jobs that they promised in 2009. And today there are 1,4 million more unemployed South Africans than before President Zuma assumed office.

Namanje, singakayi kulolukhetho, i - ANC isiphasise imithetho ebulala izimboni eSouth Africa.

[Even just before these elections, the ANC passed laws that are killing entire industries in South Africa.]

The ANC's mining laws and labour laws are only making the problems of our economy worse! 

These laws have made the future of our mining and agriculture industries uncertain and placed millions of jobs in jeopardy.

Zuma's ANC has given up on creating jobs. 

Kunalokho, inkohlakalo kule ANC ka Zuma isingene izinhlaka zonke zikaHulumeni, yilenkohlakalo evimbela ukulethwa kwentuthuko, idodobalisa amabhizinisi, ibuye ibulale imisebenzi!

[Instead, the corruption of Zuma's ANC has infiltrated every level of our government. It is this corruption that prevents service delivery, stifles business and kills jobs!]

And President Zuma himself says that the ANC will govern until Jesus returns. He thinks that the ANC's place in government is guaranteed.So if President Zuma's job is guaranteed, why should he care when 34% of South Africans don't have a job?Why should he care when the government takes R246 million of your money to build himself a palace at Nkandla?

I - ANC kaZuma ivimbela ukwakhiwa kwemisebenzi. UJacob Zuma akazihluphi ngemisebenzi yabantu. Unendaba nowakhe umsebenzi kuphela.

[Zuma's ANC is an obstacle to creating jobs. The only job that Jacob Zuma cares about his own.]

I am here to tell you that his job is not guaranteed! 

I am here to tell you that it is you, the people of Mpumalanga, who choose your government.

And I am here to tell you that you can create jobs by taking President Zuma's job away on 7 May!

I - DA ikhona lapha. I - DA ikulungele ukubusa, futhi sesikulungele ukwakhiwa kwemisebenzi engu 6 million, imisebenzi yokuqashwa ngokuphelele kulesizwe sethu.

[The DA is here. The DA is ready to govern. And we are ready to create 6 million REAL permanent jobs in South Africa!]

The DA promises 6 million jobs, not as empty election promise. We know we can create jobs because in the areas where the DA governs, we have already begun delivering these jobs.

The Midvaal Municipality is the only DA-run municipality in Gauteng. It is also the municipality with the lowest unemployment rate in all of Gauteng.

Likewise, the Western Cape is the only DA-run provincial government in South Africa. It is also the province with the lowest unemployment rate in the entire South Africa.

Even in Parliament, the DA fought for a Youth Wage Subsidy that will allow thousands of young South Africans to get a real job and to get the skills they need to hold onto that job. The ANC did not stand up to COSATU when they blocked the Youth Wage Subsidy. The ANC does not fight for jobs.

Kuze kwathatha ukuthi i-DA imashe emigwaqweni yaseGoli, yashawa ngamatshe ngamalunga eCOSATU. Kungalesosikhathi ke lapho i-DA yakwazi ukukhulumisana ne ANC ngokufezekisa lenqubo-mgomo.

[It was only after the DA marched through the streets of Johannesburg and was stoned by members of COSATU, only then did we manage to convince the ANC to implement this policy.]

Manje ngo 2014, i - youth wage subsidy izohlomulisa izinkulungwane zentsha YaseNingizimu Africa.

Yilolushintsho uhulumeni weDA oluletha kubantu baseSouth Africa. Ushintsho lwemisebenzi.

[Now in 2014, the Youth Wage Subsidy will benefit thousands of young South Africans.

This is the change that a DA government brings to the people of South Africa. It is the change of jobs!]

A national DA government will grow our economy at 8% per year and create six million REAL jobs by ensuring that South Africans have a platform to learn new skills and trades.

We will do this by boosting small businesses, creating one million work internships and by providing quality education to our children.

The DA government will also improve BEE so that it rewards companies who invest in and train their employees. 

Ngeke sivume ukuba lenqubo-mgomo ebaluleke kangaka ixhaphazwe yi - ANC ukuze kuhlomule bona nabangani bayo.

[No longer will we allow this important policy to be abused by the ANC to benefit themselves and their friends.]

BEE must empower the man on the street, not the ANC elite.

Ngomhlaka 7 kuMay ungavotela inhlangano ezokwakha enye iNkandla, noma uvotele iDA wakhe imisebenzi eNingizimu Afrika.

[On 7 May, you can again vote for a party who creates Nkandlas. Or you can vote for the DA and create jobs in South Africa!]

Now is the time that we must defend our constitutional rights. We must protect our constitutional freedoms by voting for the DA.

Unite for change that will bring jobs to South Africa.

Unite behind the DA and return the hope of 1994 to South Africa. 

Bring happiness, prosperity and jobs to eNtokozweni.

Vote for the DA on 7 May, and let your vote make history.

Issued by the DA, May 2 2014

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