The DA would never ignore Sterkspruit

Note to Editors:  This extract is based on a speech deliver by the DA Leader to a community meeting in the Senqu Municipality.

Fellow South Africans,

It is good to be here in Sterkspruit with you today. You invited me to come and see for myself what is happening here.  It is a long trip to get here, but that is no reason to forget that Sterkspruit is as much a part of South Africa as any other town or city. So thank you for inviting me.  

It is really sad to see how this town has been neglected.  You have every right to be angry with the councillors you elected to the Senqu Municipality.

You have no basic services because the people you put in power care more about themselves, and getting rich, than about serving you the voters.  It is like they forgot who elected them to power. It is the same in many parts of South Africa.

When I went around Sterkspruit this morning, many people said to me: ‘Helen, please fix things for us here'. I explained that the DA will do its best to expose maladministration and corruption, but that there is a limit to what we can do in opposition. To really make a difference, we need to be in government.  And a party can only be in government in a municipality or in a province, or in the whole country, if enough people vote for it.

So my simple message to you is this:  It does not have to be like this in Sterkspruit.  The good news is that you can change things yourself through your vote. Elections give you a chance to choose a party that takes your needs seriously. Your vote can bring about real change in the Senqu municipality and in the Eastern Cape.

Some people here are so unhappy that they have joined in service delivery protests. That is their democratic right. Everybody should be free to march, unarmed and peacefully, in a legal protest march.

But, the truth is, protest marches rarely change anything because making a noise doesn't change a government.  When some residents burnt down the municipal office here in September last year, it only made things worse for the rest of the town. Now you have to travel to Lady Grey to speak to the council. Toyi-toying has a place, when it is done peacefully, but the only way to bring about real change in a democracy is through your vote.

It is no good voting ANC on Wednesday and toy-toying on Thursday. You must vote for a different party. In the DA, we do our best to deliver services for all the residents wherever we govern. And we are making progress. Slowly but surely, life is getting better for everybody in DA municipalities. More and more people want to live in DA-run municipalities. That is a fact.

In Cape Town, people are moving out of poverty because we invest more in services and infrastructure that benefit the poor than any other city in the country.

It is the same in the DA municipality of Baviaans right here in the Eastern Cape. DA governed municipalities are tops for access to basic services (including free basic services), housing delivery and job creation.

We call this the DA difference. And we want to bring it to Sterkspruit and the Eastern Cape. We want to build houses, create jobs and provide basic services for all. We want to close the gap between rich and poor.

Your vote is the most powerful weapon you have. And I know that you understand this. I want to thank you for the wonderful support you have shown us in elections here. I have seen the trend of more and more Senqu residents voting for the DA. Between 2006 and 2011, the DA more than doubled its votes in Senqu, even though there was a decline in the total number of votes cast for all parties combined.

The people of Senqu are leading the way - you are using your vote to achieve an outcome that will change and improve your lives, because they know where we govern, we deliver.

Your government has forgotten you. Your government is ignoring you. The DA will never ignore the people of Sterkspruit. Where the DA governs, we put the people first. My hope is that all South Africans in every corner of our country can one day feel that their government is putting them first.

You have invited me to come today and see for myself what is happening here, and I have come. But if you want the DA to do more than just to show support and sympathise with you, if you want us to govern here, then you must use your vote and elect a government that will listen to your concerns and serve this community. That is within your power to do - that is the power of your vote. 

Issued by the DA, April 5 2013

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