Zuma will not distract us from realising Madiba’s vision for a united South Africa

20 July 2016

The ANC’s election campaign, as evidenced by the comments made by Jacob Zuma last week and today, has now descended into all-out racial mobilisation. This must be seen for what it is: a last ditch, desperate attempt to cling onto power at all costs, because the party faces losing major metros to the DA on 3 August 2016.

The ANC has effectively thrown in the towel on competing on different plans for local government. Zuma will not tell South Africa how his party will create jobs, because unemployment has sky-rocketed under his presidency. He will not tell South Africa how he will stop corruption, because theft of poor South Africans’ money continues by those in his government, right to the very top. And the President has no plan to halt the deteriorating levels of service delivery, because he, and many members of his party, do not respect honest, people-oriented government.

Jacob Zuma’s remarks today have left me, as I am sure many other proud South Africans, saddened and deeply concerned. They are not only in contradiction to the values which underpin our Constitution, but also an affront to so many South Africans, including those within the ANC itself, who fought and died for a free South Africa; one that belongs to all who live in it. 

We will, however, not be distracted by this desperate racial mobilisation. It will prove, as it has in many places around the world, no match for the principles of Freedom, Fairness and Opportunity for all – the foundations of liberal democracy. 

My commitment to South Africans today in the face of this dangerous rhetoric by the President is that the DA will never give up on realising Madiba’s vision for our country. That is, a South Africa that is prosperous, and united in its diversity; a South Africa that respects and upholds the values of our Constitution.  

The DA’s message of Change has positively captured the hearts and minds of millions South Africans, as polls conducted in the country’s key metros – Neslon Mandela Bay, Johannesburg and Tshwane – have indicated. 

We remain the only party with this commitment, and we will not abandon it – because all our people deserve to have Madiba’s dream for our country realised.

Only the DA has a plan and policies to build a better South Africa for all.

Issued by Mabine Seabe, Spokesperson to the DA Leader, 20 July 2016