Vote for your hopes, not your fears, and vote BOSA on Wednesday 29 May
25 May 2024
Note to editors: the following speech was delivered today by BOSA Leader, Mmusi Maimane, at the party’s Jikizinto Final Rally at the Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg, Gauteng.
Fellow South Africans
I am immensely proud to join thousands of passionate citizens here at the Ellis Park Arena, in the economic hub of South Africa, to hold BOSA’s final rally ahead of Wednesday’s era-defining elections.
Today, we have gathered at, what we are calling, the Jikizinto Rally! It is time for us to Jikizinto, it is time for change!
We are convinced history will remember this as the change election for South Africa.
With Election ’94, our citizens voted in an epochal change in power, as voters rejected evil division and racial inequality, and embraced democracy and diversity.
30 years later we are on the eve of the next transition. This time, the change heralds the removal of power from an elite, corrupt few and transition to many new, experienced and dedicated citizens. New parties, new voices, and new hope
This change that BOSA is leading, focuses on creating jobs, educating our youth, and keeping our streets safe.
Change can be intimidating and daunting. It can lead to reticent markets and a cautious climate of investment. Change can mean civil servants who are nervous about what a future administration could mean for them, and a society that is anxious about political reform.
Some will even advance the argument to stick with the ANC - as “better the devil you know”
Now is not the time to be shackled to the past or the “devil you know”. Now is the time to be brave; to be courageous; to send a message that "enough is enough!"
On Wednesday, millions will go to voting stations in every community, town and city in the country, to express their democratic will and have their say on what South Africa’s tomorrow will hold.
It is a moment in which our choice about tomorrow must be expressed.
A moment, where the future of South Africa is on the ballot. This is a referendum on our shared tomorrow
There is a clear choice before every voter as they stand in that voting booth. That choice is between voting for your hopes, and voting against your fears.
Some will want you to make your choice based on the past. They will use emotion and nostalgia, reviving liberation leaders of old in a bid to gaslight about their governance failures over the past 30 years. They will warn of the return of Apartheid as tactic of fear.
Others will say things were better back then, and they today govern in a way that maintains two South Africa’s – one for the wealthy and one for the rest. They want to “rescue” South Africa, they say. They will use Apartheid propaganda tools of swart gevaar, stoking the apprehensions of minority groups.
Others will campaign for you to make your choice based on the present. They will use racial division: they will blame white people, they will blame white minority capital and a racialized economy, and they will blame people from other countries who live and work in SA – our fellow African brothers and sisters.
I am asking you to reject these parties. They have run out of ideas, and are bankrupt of any vision for a shared tomorrow. They operate on fear, and draw out the worst, blinding us to what is possible if we choose change.
I am asking you to make your choice based on the future.
I am asking you to reject the old and embrace the new.
Tata Madiba said these words: “May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”
Today I wish to declare this: May your vote reflect your hopes, not your fears!
Our role in society, as BOSA, is to ask you to take your eyes off the rear-view mirror to the past, lift your gaze from the struggles of the present, and look to the future and what it can be.
The uncertainty of change can be daunting, it can feel a bit scary
But it is vital, for if we don’t choose change we continue down the road of joblessness, crime, corruption and poor education.
I want you to imagine what our country will look and feel like after a full term of a BOSA led government in South Africa
Government
Government will comprise of a cabinet of professional, ethical leaders who work tirelessly to spend public funds prudently and deliver on their mandates. There will be no blue light brigades and fancy SUVs. Will have a cabinet of just 10 "Superministries" streamlined and attractive to top talent.
The civil service will be improved through an incentive-based scheme for all public sector employees. You perform well, you are rewarded.
Talent will consider working in the public service, as we pursue a national recruitment drive to professionalise public service
Jobs/Economy
The economy is flourishing and growing at 5% per year. There are two million new jobs created, with at least a job in every home.
Townships have evolved from dormitories of unemployment to hubs of innovation and development.
Those who desperately need social grants and remittances will have theirs increased as more jobless grant recipients find meaningful work.
Tenderpreneurship culture and cadre deployment has been eradicated, freeing up opportunities for entrepreneurs to compete fairly and on merit for government contracts.
Our ports and logistics work. The trains run on time. And the lights stay on as we diversify energy supply through mix of wind, solar, gas and small nuclear.
The cost of living drops as the economic indicators improve and inflation drops.
Education
Our education system has modernized and the R250 billion annual budget is spent wisely and appropriately.
Education has become the cornerstone of our nation's prosperity. It is affordable, accessible, and quality from early schooling to tertiary degrees.
Every young South African is equipped with the skills to earn well, realize their potential, and compete in the digital economy.
The pass mark has increased and students are now competing with the best of best from around the world.
Power has been returned to parents with a school voucher, where they can choose which school and in which area their children learn.
Salaries for educators are raised, younger talent is attracted in the classroom, and the power of teacher unions to enhance the quality of learning is curtailed.
Crime
Our homes and streets are safe havens, not places of fear.
The police are trusted and are based in communities. Smaller regional and municipal police forces are focused on community trust and collaboration.
An additional 120,000 new officers are recruited and trained.
Adequate funding and resources for effective response and prevention actions is made available and the budget of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is doubled to R10 billion.
All dockets are digitalized for transparency and accessibility, and a National Criminal Investigation Directorate is established to pursue and prosecute the top 100 most violent criminals.
South Africa becomes a country where every citizen feels safe.
Foreign policy
Finally, South Africa ascends in statute and influence in the international community. We become a beacon of hope, leading on the African continent.
It will be easier for skills to enter our country, while incentivizing skilled South Africans to stay and build instead of looking for ostensible “greener pastures.”
Human rights and safety of human beings is prioritised. A wrong in the Middle East and a wrong in Congo, Zimbabwe, or Myanmar are treated with equally energy and disdain.
We no longer pander to dictators on the continent and abroad.
Fellow builders, there are really only a few choices in this election.
The question is: Who do you want at the table negotiating on your behalf?
Who do you want in the driving seat on the road to South Africa’s future?
Do you want leaders with experience, integrity, and a track record of service? Or do you want political amateurs with mediocre slogans?
After 29 May, we willeither have:
President Cyril Ramaphosa pushing the ANC’s corrupt interests?
President Julius Malema pursuing the EFF’s radical agenda of division and nationalisation?
President John Steenhuisen driving the DA’s elitism, with a redress-allergicfocus on minority groups in South Africa?
Or President Mmusi Maimane running with BOSA’s vision of building One South Africa.
Pick who to vote for is a bit like how you pick a babysitter. Who do you trust with your children while you aren’t around. Who do you want looking after them, to the same standard of care you would give?
There are some who are trying to frame this election as one between big and small parties.
To them I say, this election is a contest between the old and the new. The old ways of doing things vs a new vision for our country.
Early this week I visited the IEC results centre not too far from here in Midrand. The scoreboards had already been erected and all the party names were up there.
The score is level at the moment. It 0 votes for everyone, which means everyone has equal and fair chance to lead the change.
While others resort to fearmongering, ethno-nationalism, and division, BOSA stands for hope, unity, and progress. We reject the politics of fear and division.
Instead, we embrace a future where every South African, regardless of their background, can thrive.
I am extremely proud of the campaign we have run – a clean, hope-filled and vision-led campaign for change.
Michelle Obama once said that “when they go low, we go high”. This campaign we have espoused that sentiment at every juncture.
It is a campaign of new ideas, new leaders, for a new South Africa.
18 months after we launched – BOSA is now a force to be reckoned with.
We gathered over 140 000 signature submissions to the IEC, giving us the mandate to run for election.
We have over 120 candidates to stand for election under BOSA. This group has the right blend of skills, experience, diversity and passion to serve the people of South Africa with aplomb in legislatures across the country.
We have over 1000 “BOSA champs” on the ground campaigning every day.
We have raised millions from donors big and small.
We have Premier Candidates in all nine provinces.
And finally, we have our Jobs Plan, which is our central offer to voters as to how to put at least one job in every home.
Finally, I wish to thank each and every one of you for your contribution, hard work and dedication to your party and your country.
This has been an historical campaign. We’ve travelled tens of thousands of kms to all nine provinces. We’ve met and engaged with over 100 000 South Africans in villages, communities, towns and cities across the country. We held rallies, protests, pickets, marches – and participated in numerous debates on TV and radio.
We have made our offer to South Africans in the best way we could. And None of this would be possible without every BOSA activist, volunteer, professional staffer and financial contributor. Thank you for standing in the gap and standing for a vision for change.
Conclusion
Fellow builders, this election is like no other before it.
Before 1994, elections were not free nor fair
Post 1994, the ANC has used its history to push itself over the line
But this year, this election, it is different
For 30 years this government has squandered its opportunity to forge a shared heritage for South Africa.
For 30 years this government has failed to capitalize on the goodwill of South Africans and on the diverse talent pool of this country.
For 30 years this government has failed to weave a social fabric of resilience that is attractive to all.
Let us lift our eyes to the future. The next 30 years are ours to own, ours to shape a new shared future we can all be proud of
That is what this election is about.
Let each of us turn out to vote for our hopes and not our fears, to vote for our tomorrow and not our yesterday
For this may be our last moment for a long time to come.
Let us vote to put a job in every home.
Let us vote for change.
Let us vote BOSA!
Issued by Mmusi Maimane, BOSA leader, 25 May 2024
