Gauteng Provincial Congress Address

22 November 2014

Note to editors: The following speech was delivered by DA Leader Helen Zille to 1200 delegates at the DA Gauteng provincial congress on Saturday morning, November 22 2014.

Friends and colleagues,

I want to start by talking about something we take for granted: that, regularly as our constitution requires, we hold elective congresses in every province, and then federally, to determine policy and elect our leaders. This is routine - but never boring, often contested, and always exhilarating. 

So many other parties fail because they cannot get these systems right. Which shows just how remarkable congresses like this one actually are.

While other parties take their pangas to their congresses - which they prefer to call people's assemblies - and seek to elect their leaders by literally taking out their opponents, we campaign peacefully but robustly, and within rules to which we have all agreed.

Our systems are designed to minimise manipulation - and by our very processes we show what we mean by the rule of law and why this is so important. It enables things to happen peacefully, and for everyone to accept the outcome. That holds true for organisations, institutions and entire countries.

Warmest congratulations, then, in the midst of the mayhem of other party congresses, that you are able to hold this elective congress in such a true blue way today.

And it's so good to be in Gauteng today. Over the past few days I've seen the same news headline flash across my Twitter timeline a number of times. It reads: Johannesburg scores on "most inspiring city" ranking.

Curious, I clicked on the link. It turned out to be the results of the GOOD City Index - an undertaking by the GOOD magazine to measure the "possibility" of world cities. Or, as the magazine puts it, "the pervading sense that, though a place may be far from perfect, its citizens are taking a bold stake in its future through a mixture of creativity, hustle, and civic engagement".

They narrowed the list down to 50 cities and right at the top, only behind Hong Kong, sat Johannesburg.

Predictably, Johannesburg Executive Mayor, Parks Tau, wasted no time in claiming credit for what he calls a "humbling accolade". But he couldn't have missed the point about this award by a wider margin. This award is not about government success. It is about the creativity and ingenuity of the people, often in spite of government.

Mayor Tau knows only too well that he and his local ANC government have very little to crow about of late. Between the millions of public funds wasted each year, a disastrous water crisis and the e-tolls mess, this is certainly no time for self-congratulation.

So, while it has nothing to do with the local ANC government, this award is a wonderful accolade for the people of Johannesburg. Because it shows that, in spite of years of corruption, waste and mismanagement, they still have the belief and the spirit to make their city work. They still see this as their city.

And so do we. In 2016, we will return the city to them, along with the rest of Gauteng's Metros and municipalities.

The biggest disaster to have befallen this province in recent years is the economic and social paralysis brought on by patronage and cadre deployment.

When officials only look up to see where the power and privilege hand-outs come from, they no longer see - nor do they care - what happens to ordinary people on the ground.

When officials spend their whole day bent over backwards to protect their political meal ticket, they are in no position to do anything for the people they are meant to represent.

When officials are expected - and instructed - to cover for corruption and greed at the very highest level, it's only natural that this becomes the norm at all levels of public office.

No more. This province belongs to the 13 million people of Gauteng, and not to a handful of connected and protected cadres. Those days are over.

And what makes me say this? You only need to look at two indicators: The growth of the DA, and the disintegration of the ANC.

No party worked harder in the 2014 elections than the DA, and in no province was this more evident than right here in Gauteng.

When we planned the 2014 campaign, we knew it would take a Herculean effort to spread our message to every corner of the province. It took 20 000 activists to paint Gauteng blue, and keep it blue for the duration of the campaign.

Mmusi Maimane and his team practically lived on the Believe Bus, racking up thousands and thousands of kilometres - speaking at countless events and listening to every single community. DA rallies here in Gauteng injected an energy never seen before in local political campaigning.

Was it worth the blood, sweat and tears? Absolutely. Between 2009 and 2014, we managed to increase our share of the vote here by a staggering 40%. 

Gauteng is home to three of South Africa's eight Metros, and in each of them the DA has eroded the ANC's majority to a point where they now risk losing one, two or even all three of these Metros to the DA or a DA-led coalition in 2016. The ANC has now slipped to 52% in Johannesburg and only 49% in Tshwane.

But the really impressive statistic is our growth in real numbers - in other words, voters gained - across the province.

In Ekurhuleni, we grew from 227 000 votes in 2009 to 328 000 in 2014 - that's an increase of 44%.

In the City of Tshwane we also saw a 44% growth - from 245 000 in 2009 to 354 000 in 2014.

In in the City of Johannesburg, our growth was a staggering 57% - from 323 000 votes in 2009 to 508 000 in 2014.

Elsewhere in the province, the results were no less spectacular, with Emfuleni, Midvaal, Lesedi, Mogale City, Randfontein, Westonaria and Merafong City all showing voter growth ranging from 21% to a phenomenal 65% in Westonaria.

Since 2009, the DA has gained almost 450 000 new voters across the province, thanks to you.

The blue line on the graph continues to climb. And as our line climbs, the ANC's line continues to fall.

Ours is a maturing democracy. And as it matures, traditional party loyalties along ethnic identity become weaker, and we see a realignment of politics around values instead of race. This realignment has already started, and no one has felt it more than the ANC's once-invincible tripartite alliance. 

COSATU is disintegrating. The expulsion of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa is the most significant blow yet to the alliance. As we head towards 2016, this will cripple a large portion of their voter mobilising machine.

The ANC likes its alliance partners loyal when it comes to voting, and unquestioning when it comes to policy. They get this from the SACP. It seems they can no longer count on it from COSATU.

Other unions are likely to follow NUMSA as they are lured away by the quick-win politics of the populist left. But, as the EFF is fast finding out, starting a populist party is the easy bit. Keeping it together and staying relevant is another matter altogether.

As the ANC loses support to the populist left, they will also lose the support of voters who choose values like the Rule of Law, a Market Economy and Constitutionalism. These people will find a political home in the DA in 2016.

I don't have a crystal ball to predict exactly when the rising line of the DA and the falling line of the ANC will meet on the graph, but the next five years would be a good estimate.

A catalytic moment in this process will be the potential need for coalitions at Local Government level in 2016. 

In 2006, when the DA took control of the City of Cape Town, it did so through a seven-party coalition, and the narrowest of margins. This coalition brought together an incredibly complex and diverse group of member parties, but it was all we needed to turn the City around from the mess left by the ANC.

By the 2011 Local Government elections, the DA had done enough to secure an outright majority in the Metro, and the rest is history.

In 2016 we will succeed, if not with outright victory, then as the senior partner in coalitions in municipalities across South Africa. And, within a decade, we will replicate this model of coalition government on National level, with the DA again the majority partner.

As was the case with the 2014 campaign, our success in 2016 will be down to you.

We will work long hours and lay down many miles as we take our message to the people of Gauteng.

We will need to mobilise more DA activists in more communities than ever before. 

The ANC can see the writing on the wall in Gauteng and make no mistake, they will do whatever it takes to hold on to power at local level here.

They underestimated the blue machine in 2014, but they are unlikely to do that a second time.

That is why from Soshanguve to Soweto, from Bekkersdal to Boksburg we will need to campaign tirelessly for change.

We know that this is a place of inspired people. 

In 2016, through hard work and activism, there can be no doubt that Gauteng will be the place that inspires a nation.

Here we will make history, we will change South Africa's politics forever, and we will return Gauteng to its rightful owners - the people.

Issued by the DA, November 22 2014

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