Your vote can win it in Tshwane!
Note to editors: This is an extract of a speech prepared for delivery today at the Saulsville Hostel in Atteridgeville, Tshwane. The four hostel buildings are in extremely poor condition. The toilets are permanently blocked, there is electricity in only some parts of the hostel and raw sewerage runs outside the building. The residents of the hostel requested Helen Zille to come and see the conditions for herself.
Fellow South Africans,
Thank you for inviting me to address you. You asked me to see for myself what the conditions are like here at the Saulsville Hostel in Atteridgeville.
The way you are treated here is an outrage. It is an affront to human dignity. Nobody in a democratic South Africa should have to go without decent sanitation and electricity. Nobody deserves to live with the stench of raw sewerage.
You don't have to live like this any more. The election on May 18 offers you a fresh start. It is your chance to turn things around here.
People often say to me: Helen, please come to my town to fix things up. I reply that we can only do so if you vote us into office at the next election. There is so much more we can do in government than we can do in opposition.
The good news is that we really can win the election in Tshwane. Our research tells us we are neck-and-neck with the ANC. It is going to go down to the wire here on election day.
So, when we say that your vote can win it in Tshwane, we really mean it.
But why should you lend your vote to the DA? Why is a DA win in Tshwane a good thing? And why will we succeed where others have failed?
These are all important questions.
On Freedom Day, not far from here in Mamelodi, I said that the struggle in South Africa was not over. The struggle will continue until every South African is given the chance to break free from poverty.
This struggle is the DA's struggle. Everything we do is aimed at overcoming the legacy of apartheid that keeps people poor.
You can see this for yourself in the places we govern. Where we govern, we deliver more basic services to more poor people free of charge than anywhere else. And, where we govern, the economy is growing and jobs are being created.
That is why the DA is gaining ground in communities all over the country. While other parties have been talking about delivering a better life for all, we have been busy delivering it.
You will notice that, in this election campaign, the DA has focused on what it offers the people of South Africa. We don't need to point out where other parties have gone wrong, because everybody knows what their track record in government is like. And, in any case, they are doing a pretty good job criticizing themselves.
Earlier this week, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was here in Atteridgeville. She conceded that her party had "failed the masses". She acknowledged that people had been "victims of broken promises". And she said that people had taken to the streets in protest because "their hopes have been blasted".
A few days before that, President Zuma admitted there were problems. He said: "We can sort out the problems only if you vote for the ANC. Let's vote and after that sort out all the problems."
But isn't that what the ANC said in 2009? And in 2006? And in every election before that? Do you really want to be in the same position five years from now?
The truth is, if you want change in Atteridgeville, you need to change the way you vote. You cannot do the same thing over and over again and expect something different to happen. It won't.
On 18 May, you have a choice. You can choose a party that admits it has failed the masses. You can choose to have your hopes blasted again. And you can choose to remain a victim of broken promises.
Or you can choose the DA.
I am asking you lend us your vote for five years. If we fail you, take your vote back and give it to someone else.
Just give us a chance on 18 May.
And vote DA.
Because the DA delivers for all!
Issued by the DA, May 4 2011
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