Speech by DA Parliamentary Leader Lindiwe Mazibuko to the Kwazulu-Natal DA Provincial Congress, March 17 2012

Colleagues, friends and fellow democrats:

Kuyinotokozo enkulu kimina ukuba lapha kwisifundazwe saKwaZulu-Natal, lapho ngikhulele khona.
How proud I am to come home, and stand before this congress for the first time as the DA leader in parliament.
 
I grew up here. My beliefs were shaped here. My politics were formed here. Wherever I go, I carry the dreams of my family and friends from here.

This beautiful province witnessed some of the worse political violence in the transition. Some of you bore witness to it. 

It reminds us today why all political parties - like all communities - should make the defence of others a routine part of their work, just as they would the defence of their own.

This is the animating idea of our liberal democratic Constitution. The preamble sets forth:

‘We, the people of South Africa,

Recognise the injustices of our past;

Respect those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land;

Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and

Believe that South Africa belongs to all in it, united in our diversity'.

When we read those words today we salute the giants from this province upon whose shoulders we stand. 

When the ugly edifice of apartheid was being built in the 1950's, liberal democrats like Peter Brown and Alan Paton were meeting with the likes of Edgar Brookes in non-racial gatherings. 

Liberal democrats in this province, smaller in number in the past, fought apartheid's injustices with the bravery of David against Goliath. I am sharing this with you because politics is tough, and it is going to get tougher.

It is going to get tougher because the DA is getting stronger; 
It is going to get tougher because the ANC is getting weaker; 

And it is going to get tougher because the ANC is running scared of the Constitution, so they are going to try and rewrite it. 

The DA has a very clear message about this. It is not that the Constitution that has failed South Africa. The ANC government has. 

We saw this week what it will be like if the government succeeds in undermining the independence of the judiciary. 

On Thursday, I asked President Zuma if he will release the full and final report of the commission of inquiry into the arms deal. 

I also asked him if any steps will be taken against those implicated in the report. 

His response along-the-lines that one does not pre-empt what a doctor's diagnosis might be before the patient is examined was nonsensical and contradictory. 

To use the President's analogy, there are two basic principles in medicine that are apply in this case. One, a doctor has an oath of integrity to uphold, irrespective of who the patient is. Two, the doctor has to say if the patient is found to be ill or well.
Colleagues, in politics, humour has its place. 

I like Mr Zuma's sense of humour - but I don't like his timing. There are times when a smile and a chuckle are not acceptable. This is one of them. 

To the President, I say this: ‘the patient is ill. Corruption is a cancer and it is infecting South Africa. We must get the patient up off the sick bed. We must get the patient healthy and walking again'. 

South Africa cannot become known as a shady place for shady people to come and do shady business. 

There is another reason why the ANC want to propose amendments to the Constitution. They want to reopen old quarrels with the past, and make politics only about race. The ANC was part of the writing of our Constitution, but, in their hearts, its leaders do not want to be made accountable for failing to provide service delivery. 

And that is the clear blue water between the DA and the ANC. 

The DA is working to build a new kind of South Africa. Our name spells out the kind of South Africa we seek. 

The emphasis is on democracy and alliance. Yes, we sometimes have differences of opinion, but we are building a blue alliance of democrats from every race, creed, and walk of life in South Africa. 

The DA is working to make South Africa a nation that cherishes diversity.
This is why we don't ask others to do what we do not do ourselves. 

This is why say that South Africa will not be the country it can be until we fix our schools so that every child gets a decent education, and everybody gets to participate in a non-racial economy. We have worked out how to do both.

A DA government will provide every South African with the opportunity to be safe, stay healthy, get an education, get a job and get ahead,

As a party, we apply the same consistency to our affairs. We promote internal diversity in the same way as we do a non-racial education system and economy: by extending opportunities.

The DA is South Africa's fastest growing party, and, as you can see today, we look like South Africa in all its beautiful diversity. People in the DA are given opportunities according to their merit. 

And as we work to defend the rights of others to hold different points of views from our own, we affirm our commitment to stamp out the evil of racism in every time, every place. 

So remember this: all of us share a desire for change. We are looking for more than just a change of governing party - as welcome as that will be. We want to change the direction of South Africa. And so, our internal competition for positions within the DA must be for this end. 

When a party grows, often the challenges it faces from within grow as well. We only have to look at the ANC, and other opposition parties, to see what happens when a party puts the pursuit of positions above everything.

Internal divisions in the ANC, we see, are at an all-time high. And we all know that a house divided cannot stand.

Iqembu le DA ke lona limiphi kulesisimo? Lona yiwona mbuzo okufanele siwuphendule. Kufanele siqinisekise ukuthi ngalesikhathi iqembu le ANC lilwa lodwa lize lihlukane phakathi, thina njenge DA siKhombisa abavoti indlela eyiyona efanelekile ezobenza babone ukuthi elethu yilona qembu elinemigomo okufanele bayeseke.

Under the leadership of our captain, Helen Zille, the DA ship will forge ahead because we share the same values and beliefs. And we know that our duty is to pull together as one.
The DA is growing in KwaZulu-Natal; a province with a unique political composition and set of challenges.

KwaZulu-Natal is the country's only province, other than the Western Cape, where an opposition party has governed. 

Isifundazwe sakwa Zulu Natal isona kuphela lapho i ANC isaqhubeka nokuthola amavoti asuka kuIFP.

Yet internal party strife and violence still persist. Corruption is rife in many municipalities, and they struggle to provide basic services. 

Anyone who says that the DA is not important here, remember the role DA representatives played in warning that the ANC-led eThekwini Metro could collapse due to corruption and inefficiency.

Poverty and inequality blights the lives of millions of people in this province. The burden of disease is great, with the highest rate of HIV infection in the world. 

Yet, it is a great place to live and work. Our many communities make us fascinating in our vibrant diversify. 

All that is required is bold leadership and new ideas to make this the comeback province.

In the 2009 general election and last year's local government elections, the DA increased its share of the vote. Next time, we want to do much better.

The DA aims to win 30% in the 2014 general election. In KwaZulu-Natal, we want to become the Official Opposition, on our way to office within a decade. This places a great responsibility upon you to go out into every community of this province with the DA's message.

Kufanele siqhubeke nokwakha leliqembu kuleminyaka emibili ezayo. Mina, ngizosebenza ngokuzimisela ephalamende elikhulu, ukuqinisekisa ukuthi lokhu kuyenzeka, ngoba ukhetho luka 2014 ilona lona olukhulu kwinhlangano yethu. Kufanele sizuze esinye isifundazwe; kufanele sizuze u30% kuvoti likazwelonke, kanti futhi kufanele siphindaphinde ivoti labantu base South Africa abamnyama lize lifike ku 10%.

To reach 30% of the national vote in 2014, we have to grow another 6% in this province. 30% of the national vote will mean 44 extra seats for the DA in parliament, and 5 more seats in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature.

So from Ladysmith to Durban, Ixopo to Nkandla, Richards Bay to Ulundi, take the DA message that we are the party of the Constitution, and we will defend it.

While we honour the sacrifice of those who fought for and wrote the Constitution, the responsibility has now been passed to our generation to make it manifest.

As Judge Jody Kallapen said at the University of KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday, there are millions of South Africans who live outside of the Constitution, and this puts it at risk.
We need to fix parliament and our politics to fix South Africa.
Let us turn our shoulders to the wheel. The prize is in sight. 

Together,
As One Party;
One Nation;
Under One Constitution;
We will win.

Thank you. 

Issued by the DA KZN, March 17 2012

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