This weekend, COPE's off-again, on-again Premier candidate in the Western Cape, Allan Boesak, claimed that the DA had not made a difference to the lives of the people of Cape Town . When politicians resort to propagating falsehoods like this, it is because they have run out of ideas. Boesak is trying to divert attention from the deep tensions in COPE over his Premier candidacy, and to cover up for the fact that his party lacks an alternative policy platform.

After only three years in office, the DA-led multiparty government has established a track record in Cape Town . Although we still have a long way to go before we achieve all the policy outcomes we are aiming for, we have so far gained a reputation for improved efficiency and service delivery. The DA will strive to govern successfully across South Africa over the next few years, as we consolidate our status as a party of government provincially in the 2009 elections, at local level across South Africa in 2011, and nationally in 2014.

Our strategy is to show - in government - how our policies for an open, opportunity society can help to change people's lives for the better. That is what we are busy doing in Cape Town . That is what we will do in the Western Cape and, possibly, some other provinces after the 2009 election. And that is what we will eventually do nationally in 2014.

The only way to consolidate our democracy is to break the ANC's grip on power and stop its power abuse.  To do this we must build a new majority, step by step, starting with local government.  I have accepted nomination as the DA's candidate for the premiership in the Western Cape to help facilitate the next step - installing the DA in provincial government - and to allow new leadership to emerge in Cape Town .  DA-led governments in Cape Town and the Western Cape will work together to achieve shared goals of service delivery and development for all.  This will be a significant step forward.  For the last three years the Province has actually worked to undermine the City's delivery programme in housing, in community safety, in public transport, in tourism and other crucial areas.  When we govern the province, we will remove these blockages to delivery and progress will be significantly faster.

People often tell me that we don't say enough about our track record in Cape Town , and that our successes should be brought to the attention of a wider audience. That is because we prefer to work rather than to boast. Every day we work hard together to make things a little bit better in Cape Town . If you add up all those small steps over a long time, progress is meaningful, and it is possible to show the difference that open, opportunity government makes in their lives. I believe in the principle "show, don't tell", but let me use this opportunity to set Reverend Boesak straight by telling him a few truths.

Under the DA, the economy in Cape Town has grown and more opportunities have been created. Cape Town's gross geographic product increased by over 12% from R116.6 billion in 2005 - when the ANC governed - to R130.77bn in 2007, under DA rule. Unemployment declined from 20.7% in 2005 to 17.9% in 2007, which is below the national average of 23.2%.

Under the DA, government has become more efficient. Within a year of taking over the city, we cut debt by nearly R1bn. That allowed us to extend the capital available for service delivery by 15%. And we have put the money to good use: for example, we have begun supplying electricity to informal settlements that fall under Eskom's jurisdiction - such as Happy Valley and Site B Khayelitsha - areas to which the ANC sought to block electricity provision.

We have been able to write off debt for the very poor to the value of R1.5-billion. We have speeded up service delivery, we offer free basic services for all, and we are busy installing electricity and water in the areas that did not receive them when the ANC was in government.

We have tripled the investment in infrastructure that benefits the public and supports the economy from an average of R1bn per year between 2002 and 2006, under the ANC, to R3.1 bn in 2008.

We have doubled the average annual rate of housing delivery, from the ANC's average of 3 000 per year between 2002 and 2006 to an average of 7 000 per year between 2006 and 2008. And we have introduced fairer housing allocation procedures.

Under the DA, Cape Town has become safer. Crime in the CBD has gone down by 90% since 2000. Capetonians now feel safer: 3 500 residents have moved back into inner city apartments.

Under the DA, Cape Town has become cleaner - clean and transparent in government, clean and beautiful in appearance. Under the ANC a minimum 30% BEE quota applied to tenders, which was used to advance the economic interests of bidders with top political connections. In 2006 the DA scrapped the policy and implemented an open equity programme that encourages greater numbers of bidders to apply. The result has been a 10% increase in the number of contracts awarded to BEE companies.

Cape Town is clean both figuratively and literally: In 2007, Cape Town was awarded the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism's annual Cleanest Metro award.

The ANC brought Cape Town to the brink of collapse, but the DA saved it and we are busy turning it into a success. And we will do the same in those provinces that we win after the election - either on our own or in coalition - by implementing the policies that give life to our vision of an open, opportunity society for all.

The DA is on track to win the Western Cape , and there is a chance that we may be able to form coalition governments in Gauteng and the Northern Cape .

That is the next phase in a long-term plan that the DA initiated when we formed the multiparty government in Cape Town in 2006. The plan is for the DA to become a party of government in every sphere - locally, provincially and nationally - by 2014. In the 2011 local government elections, we will add to the several municipalities we already govern by winning cities and towns across South Africa . And the process will culminate when we form the core of national government in 2014.

In each of these spheres, we will implement the policies that give life to our alternative vision of an open, opportunity society for all. These policies have made an important difference to the lives of people in Cape Town - contrary to what Reverend Boesak might claim - and over the next five years we will work hard to ensure that every South African comes to benefit from them.

This is an extract from a speech by Democratic Alliance leader, Helen Zille, at a public meeting in Bedfordview, Gauteng, March 2 2009

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