The following speech was delivered at the opening of the DA's Federal Congress at 10:30am on Saturday July 24 2010 in Cape Town

"Our Success is South Africa's Success"

Introduction

Friends, colleagues, special guests, fellow democrats

Welcome to our Federal Congress.

I am honoured to be part of the leadership team here today which includes our leaders in the national parliament, the nine provinces and many of our council caucuses.  Allow me especially to welcome those delegates who do not hold public office. Yours is a commitment that goes way beyond the call of official duty.

In whatever capacity we serve, we are here today as proud South Africans and members of the Democratic Alliance. We do what we do because we want South Africa to succeed. Nothing gives us more joy than a South African success story.

That is why it is a real bonus to be holding our Federal Congress so soon after the 2010 World Cup.  It feels good to be counted among the few nations in the world that have ever hosted an event of this scale and significance.

But it is especially gratifying to have succeeded when so many critics predicted we couldn't. It is a huge confidence boost. It gives us the adrenalin rush we need to tackle the enormous challenges that lie ahead.

It reminds us, to adapt Bill Clinton's words, that there is nothing that is wrong with South Africa that cannot be fixed by what is right with South Africa.

This is a lesson we have learnt before. From where we are now it is easy to forget that, just over 20 years ago, most experts and analysts predicted an escalating racial civil war in our country.

But we chose not to fulfill their predictions or play to their script. Yes, we were blessed with great leaders who chose to take the high road at a crucial moment in our history. But we also chose to follow them. And we learnt a key lesson: that we are not helpless victims of the unfolding logic of history. We can shape our future by the choices we make. We can choose success.

But we have to keep on doing so.

No single choice secures the future, no matter how momentous it is. History is the consequence of the choices human beings make from generation to generation.

So, since our first momentous choice for peace and democracy 16 years ago, it is equally significant that more and more South Africans are choosing to reject the politics of race. They realize that if the outcome of every election is predictable, because it is merely a racial census, then power abuse is inevitable.

Governments with no prospect of losing elections become self-serving and corrupt. They need racial divisions to stay in power; they undermine the rule of law to stay out of jail. Their legacy is the failed state, which has caused so much misery and poverty on our continent.

When The Economist labeled Africa "The Hopeless Continent" ten years ago, the magazine was suggesting that the downward spiral towards the failed state is inevitable in Africa. We know it is not.

We are making a different choice.  More and more South Africans want our politics to be an open contest of ideas and values, rather than a closed circle of conflict between race groups.

Very few complex plural societies have made this choice.

That is because race is a powerful mobiliser. So are culture, language, and religion. These things shape our identity. Our need to belong is real and important to us all. But more and more, South Africans are realizing that making a different political choice is not a threat to their identity. In fact, quite the reverse. Each of us can confidently be who we are only if we secure that right for everyone else. Each time we stand up for another's rights, we defend our own.

South Africans are, increasingly, choosing to value each other by what Martin Luther King described as the "content of our characters", not the colour of our skins. We are choosing to come together on a platform of shared values - integrity, fairness, service, tolerance, the quest for excellence. All of these override the things that separate us.

South Africans who are making this choice are coming together in the Democratic Alliance. It is the reason why the DA has become, in Professor Lawrence Schlemmer's words, "the most non-racial party South Africa has ever had."

This week, we saw this trend accelerate. We won three more by-elections in wards we have never won before. We have now won 11 new wards since last year's election.  But the most exciting development of all, this year, was breaking through another race barrier. In political terms it is like breaking the sound barrier. It is an historic moment. If we seize it, it will be the beginning of a new era.

Each new DA victory shows that South Africa's democracy is working. People are making free choices.

Nothing can describe the exhilaration you feel when you get an SMS in the middle of the night to say that we have just won a 52% majority in a voting district where there is not a single minority voter. Only black South Africans freely choosing to support the Democratic Alliance. Just one year ago, a mere 1.8% of voters supported us in Mkhondo, Mpumalanga. Since then, the people who live there have made a different choice. This confirmed what we saw in the Grabouw by-election in May this year. Voters who change their minds are not disloyal.  On the contrary. This is the stuff of which all successful democracies are made.

It is also the result of exceptional sustained effort and dedication. It shows we can do it. And it sends a clear message to the political analysts who propose that we remain a party for minorities only. The voters don't agree with you. We all know that it usually takes the analysts a few years to catch up with the voters.

What these analysts don't understand is that the DA could never be a party just for minorities, even if we thought it strategic to do so. Our entire reason for being is to challenge the notion that ethnic and racial nationalism is the only way South Africans can conduct their politics. And that is what we are doing. We are building a new majority.

For this reason, I am particularly excited by the many young people, from all backgrounds, who are making the DA their political home. They are beginning to emerge everywhere and will soon take their place in leadership roles throughout our party. To meet and engage with them is to become really optimistic about South Africa's future. Their choice for the DA will transform our party and our country.

Many of us don't realise just how significant our progress has been.  It sometimes takes an outsider to point this out.

During the World Cup I was privileged to meet international leaders who, without exception, understand the DA's epoch-making achievements.

They know that Africa cannot succeed unless South Africa's democracy succeeds.

They understand the significance of our party's growth from just over 300,000 votes in 1994 to just under 3-million votes last year. We did this by offering an alternative to racial and ethnic nationalism, and that truly contradicts the logic of history on our continent.

But we must not let the World Cup afterglow lull us into complacency. The ability to host a global mega-event is no substitute for a strong constitution or a growing economy.

That is why, even as we cheered for Bafana Bafana, waved our rainbow flag and sung our anthem, we continued to do the work South Africans elected us to do. We pursued two major cases before our courts to uphold the principle of equality before the law, and defend the independence of state institutions. We exposed those politicians who spend the people's money on their own comfort.

We exposed corruption. And we continued to work ceaselessly on the ground helping people to improve their lives, day-by-day.

Fellow democrats, we have come a long way in the last two decades. But we are not here to congratulate ourselves. We must remember that each time we reach the summit of a hill, new mountain ranges rise before us.

This is why it is so important for us to focus on the future, on becoming a party of government throughout South Africa.

Our purpose is not power for its own sake. It is to make freedom real for every person. Many people mistakenly believe that this job was done, once and for all, in our founding election. But freedom is never attained. We must constantly strive for it. Each time a new baby is born, we must ask ourselves: is freedom real for her? Will she have the opportunities and the means to fulfill her potential and become the best she can be?

We call a society in which this can happen the open, opportunity society for all. It is not a slogan. Everything we do, in government and opposition, is designed to make it real.

We are all shaped by our histories and the contexts in which we live. We treasure our identity; but each of us is also unique, with a unique perspective on the world. Each of us has the capacity to decide for ourselves what we believe and what we value. We are not simply the sum of our demographic parts; we are not mere clones of a group prototype. There is no dignity in being controlled, owned or dependent.

In an open society - a free society - becoming an adult means deciding who you want to be; determining your path in life.

And you accept the responsibility for the consequences of your decisions. In an open society, each person who follows their own dream, respects and protects the rights of others to fulfill theirs.

A free society is not threatened by difference. On the contrary, it welcomes diversity because it understands that no person or group has a monopoly on truth. People make mistakes and come to new insights through challenge and open debate.

And so in an open society, it's okay to be a Marxist, even if I don't agree with you. It's okay to vote DA, even if you are the only person in your community who does. It's okay to thumb your nose at the President's cavalcade, no matter how powerful he may be. It's okay to be Christian, or Muslim, or Jewish, or Hindu, or whatever you choose to be. It's okay to be yourself.

That's what it means to be free.

All the institutions of open societies are designed to protect and promote your freedom. That's what a constitution is for. It prevents power abuse and stops one person's pursuit of freedom from undermining another's. That's why a robust civil society is necessary and a free press so important. That's why the ruling party must never be allowed to use the state for its own self-interest.

A paradox of freedom is that you can only be your best through discipline and effort and respect for others. Free individuals form organizations and institutions. They make rules to bind their members, who then freely choose to abide by them. Freedom is not chaos, or anarchy. It values oversight and accountability. That is why the rule of law is essential in every free society.

But even if you have the right to be yourself, you're not really free unless you have the means to do so. How can we call a child free if she is born into rural poverty, without adequate healthcare or a decent education, with little prospect of future employment, no money to defend her rights in a court, subject always to a limiting, patriarchal culture? She is not free; her constitutional rights are paper rights.

But in an opportunity society, the state, the private sector and civil society work together to extend opportunity to those who don't have the means to be free.

In an opportunity society a child gets a good education, whatever his background. No family is expected to survive without water or sanitation or electricity. People have access to safe and reliable public transport. A mother is able to give her children the healthcare they need.

And so, in an opportunity society, your path in life is not determined by the circumstances of your birth but by your talents and by your efforts. A child born into poverty must be able to become a brain surgeon or an investment banker or the President, provided she has the talent and puts in the disciplined effort.

And so the open society and the opportunity society are two sides of the same coin; they share one purpose: to promote real freedom.

In our context, with our history, it is essential that the fruits of an open, opportunity society are shared by all the people of our country. Inclusivity is a precondition for our future success, because division defined our past. As Nelson Mandela put it so long ago, "South Africa belongs to all who live in it."

That means we have to recognize that the history of South Africa did not begin on the 27th of April 1994. We live today with the legacy of apartheid and we must put it right. Those who still suffer the effects of past discrimination must be given the means to succeed in the future.

I don't mean the quota-filling and outcome-manipulating approach that currently pretends to be ‘empowerment'. This is generally just a smokescreen to enrich cronies or entrench race-based thinking. I mean real empowerment. Where opportunity is extended to everyone.

This approach - what might be called ‘affirmative opportunity' - underpins our strategy to empower those who were disadvantaged in the past. And it is working.

To use just one example, this is why in the City of Cape Town, the DA has managed to increase procurement from black-owned companies and SMMEs from 40% under the ANC to 60% under the DA.

We didn't do this by manipulating outcomes or picking winners. We did it by opening up opportunities through a fair and transparent process to prevent corruption and tenders for pals.

That is why the Western Cape under the DA was first to provide universal access to anti-retroviral medication and is now a world leader in the field of HIV prevention and treatment.

And that is why where the DA governs, the conditions are improving investor confidence, which is creating jobs - even as jobs are shed elsewhere.

That is why independent researchers found that Midvaal was the only place in Gauteng where the majority of residents - black and white - are happy with service delivery.

And Baviaans, a small DA-run municipality in the Eastern Cape, is the exception in that province. It is clean, services are delivered and its finances are in good shape.

This is why, through partnerships, we have reduced crime by 90% in Central Cape Town and are now steadily following this example in our pilot projects in Khayelitsha.

It is why we are making education a key priority in provincial government -- a good education is the best affirmative action there is.

When we get the chance to put our policies into practice, we lead the way in eradicating the legacy of apartheid. We can achieve our goal.

But knowing our destination is meaningless unless we have a road map to get there.

I believe we will succeed if we do three things.

Firstly we must represent the needs and aspirations of all South Africans. And we must do it really well. We have to become a party of activists. On the ground. Where the people need us to be.

I often speak about the importance of becoming a party of government. But we can only do so if we are good in opposition. And so I want to speak to the majority of you who are sustaining our struggle for freedom where we are not yet winning elections.

You are the bedrock of our party and your role is no less important than those in executive office. And to our lone rangers, those isolated and single DA public representatives in far-flung municipalities: when you face the daily barrage of insult and intimidation, think of Helen Suzman. Stand up to bullies. Expose the truth. Fight corruption. Oppose injustice. Serve the people.  

Helen could never have imagined that we would one day be in government. She did what she did because it was the right thing to do. That is why, to use her words, we must keep on keeping on.

The second thing we must do is to deliver where we govern. We must do this because that is what we have been elected to do.

According to world-renowned Africa expert Professor Paul Collier there are two ways parties can grow in complex plural societies. There is an easy way and there is a hard way.

The easy way is to play the race card. The hard way is to win people's trust through representing their interests and delivering services. Our values only allow us to choose the difficult route. And we are succeeding. We are showing that life slowly, not overnight, gets better where the DA governs.

Peter Bruce of Business Day summed it up when he said:

"As most ANC-run cities broadly subside and most DA-run ones broadly prosper, the political effect becomes a little like compound interest. You don't notice it at first but after a while it really begins to matter. A lot. It's about doing your job - everyone doing their jobs - properly."

That is what it is about.

But we must also grow our support another way - through realigning politics in South Africa.

There are people who share our values, in all political parties. If we manage to bring all those people together in one political vehicle, I believe we will be a majority. We must build this new majority.

We have started realignment by building coalitions with various opposition parties.

In the past four years we have learnt a great deal about coalitions. They are fragile and complex to manage. We have sometimes been held to ransom by parties with minimal support. Some of our coalitions have failed.

Despite all this I remain convinced that coalitions are a crucial step in the realignment process. We must now move to the next step. Of course we must consider every case on its merits. We have learnt lessons from the past.  We know that it is pointless to exchange our principles for power. But pristine powerlessness is also self defeating.

We must bring together all those who still believe in a place called the new South Africa. And who want to get there together, in all our glorious diversity.

This does not imply a slavish adherence to numerical representivity, or quotas, or window-dressing. It means knowing that diversity is essential to achieving excellence and equity in our country. It is to understand what we mean when we say one nation, one future.

Now, there may be some who feel threatened by our growing diversity. Let me just say this: diversity is the future of the DA, of South Africa, and of the world. 

At the same time, there are those who use their colour as a trump-card. It is equally important to get over that tendency. As one commentator has pointed out: race card fraud is as dishonest as credit card fraud.

We have defined the alternatives for South Africa's future.

Now we must take that choice clear to all citizens.

We must show that there is another South Africa within our reach.

It is a place where politicians work to serve the people, not to enrich themselves.

It is a place where politicians are scared of the voters, not the other way around.

A place where the state does those things for people that they cannot be expected to do for themselves.

A place where every child has a fair chance to make a success of her life.

A place where people take responsibility for their future.

It is a place where each one of us strives to becoming the best we can be, enabling our country to achieve greatness and chart a new course for the world.

That is the South African dream. We can choose to make it real.

Let us go forward together and make it happen.

We can, we must, and we will.

Thank you

Issued by the Democratic Alliance, July 24 2010

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