Much more still to be done to correct the wrongs of Apartheid

Note to editors: This is the extract of the speech that was delivered by the DA Parliamentary Leader,Lindiwe Mazibuko MP, during the launch of the second phase of the party's ‘Know Your DA' campaign in Johannesburg.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, 

Fellow democrats,

Today is a significant moment for us as South Africans and as members of the Democratic Alliance. It is also a significant moment for me as a black South African and a leader in our party.

Today is the day that we launch our campaign to put right the lies and propaganda which our political opponents have for too long peddled about the DA's policy response to the all-important questions of redress and reconciliation in our country.

Let me begin by stating unambiguously that while the illegitimate system of apartheid is no longer with us today, its legacy continues to hold the people of our country it's grip. That legacy is two-fold.

There is the material and economic cost leveraged upon the millions of black South Africans who were denied access to quality education and freedom of economic participation. That legacy is the fruit of destructive apartheid legislation, such as:

• The Asiatic Land Tenure of 1946
• The Group Areas Act of 1950
• The Population Registration Act of 1950
• The Bantu Authorities Act of 1951
• Bantu/Native Building Workers Act of 1951
• Natives Labour Act of 1953
• Bantu Education Act of 1953

And many, many more. Indeed, the bureaucratic edifice of apartheid laws designed to keep generations of black South Africans excluded from the formal economy is too vast to enumerate here today. 

The legacy of apartheid is also an emotional one. The anger, shame, guilt, and denial felt and expressed by South Africans on both sides of the racial divide speak of a nation which has yet to experience the freedom which comes from acknowledgement, forgiveness, and reconciliation. 

Even today, that profound longing to be heard and understood has caught up our fellow-citizens in conflict and misunderstanding; it has also become fodder for those who would use the divisions between us to amass political power and personal wealth.  

A great irony of our post-Apartheid democracy is that the death of Apartheid - and the proud declaration in the Constitution we love so dearly that non-racialism will prevail - has created in some the belief that race no longer matters in our society today.

Let me be clear, I too long for that day; a day when success and achievement in our society will be determined by the content of a person's character and the determination of their spirit. That is the South Africa that so many fought for and died for during the struggle for liberation. 

When that day comes, ours will be a truly beautiful South Africa; a South Africa that is diverse; a South Africa that is united; a South Africa that once and for all removes the chains of poverty and despair.

But ladies and gentleman, that is not the South Africa we live in today. It is not the South Africa of next year, or even of the year after that. It is a South Africa we have to work hard to build.

To do this, we must accept that the legacy of Apartheid remains entrenched in our country. Its evil hand continues to divide us into groups of haves and have-nots, often based on the colour of our skins. 

There is no doubt in my mind - nor of the party I represent here today - that redressing the wrongs of the past must be made an urgent priority, in legislation, and in government action. 

The time has come for us spell out what we mean by redress and reconciliation, and to re-commit ourselves to fulfilling the promise of 1994, of our non-racial constitution, and our hard-won democracy.

That is why the DA in Parliament voted ‘yes' in support of the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Bill. 

It is why the DA remains committed to land reform which corrects the injustices of the 1913 Land Act, which made black South Africans immigrants in their own land.

And it is why the DA says to men and women across South Africa who are trapped in poverty: you absolutely must receive social assistance from the state.

We are a party that not only fought against Apartheid. We are a party that continues to fight against the legacy of Apartheid. 

And we have policies that are designed to do just this. Policies that will lead to true economic inclusion for all. Our policies acknowledge that much more must still be done to correct the countless wrongs of Apartheid. 

They acknowledge that many policy interventions to date, while rooted in good intention, have failed to create real, broad-based empowerment that will improve the lives of ordinary South Africans. 

We also acknowledge the reality that existing legislation and accompanying regulations have resulted in the enrichment of the already empowered or politically-connected, while failing to bridge the divide between economic insiders and outsiders. 

In fact, in many instances, the current system has extended this economic divide even further. 

But we don't have to accept this status quo. We can make it better. We can get the millions of South Africans who are unemployed and trapped in poverty, out of poverty. We can start creating a nation of owners.

That is why, when we voted in favour of the B-BBEE bill earlier this year, we told Parliament: let's make it better. 

We said let's create a scorecard that benefits those who need to benefit and let's create a BBBEE framework which helps South Africans gain access to the skills and jobs that they need to lift themselves out of poverty.

We said let's ensure that we incentivise businesses to create jobs; let's cut the red tape so that small businesses and entrepreneurs can flourish.

Let's deliver a decisive blow, once and for all, to the real aims and consequences of Apartheid - poverty and unemployment.

This is the crux of the DA's policy on Economic Inclusion. Its core aims are:

• To grow the economy and create jobs;
• To empower South Africans by ensuring that their basic needs are met and to equip them with the necessary education and skills to make use of the economic opportunities available in our country;
• To commit to redressing the injustices of the past by creating a nation of owners and facilitating formal participation in existing businesses.
• And to commit to redress the injustices of the past by incentivising businesses to contribute to our redress project in a manner that helps as many people as possible. 

Ladies and gentlemen; 

To achieve these aims, we need to equip South Africans for full participation in the formal economy.

We all know that the Apartheid education system sought, in every way possible, to disempower black South Africans, and push them to the periphery of our economy. 

We must now ask ourselves, 20 years into our democracy, have we achieved on the road to rolling back this injustice?

The answer is: not enough. The consequences of that malicious system remain for all to see.

When I visited school children in rural Eastern Cape and Limpopo last year it was clear to me that, in every corner of our country, we have the talent, skills, passion and determination to defeat the consequences of Apartheid. Our children simply need the means to make the most of their immense talents.

Let's give our children these means. 

Let's give our children the education they need to access a growing economy which will enable them to live lives they value.

But this alone is not enough. 

Apartheid did not just push black South Africans to the periphery of the economy through a sub-standard education system. It was also an organised and ruthless process of asset stripping and restrictions on opportunities for work, business, property ownership, and free enterprise for black South Africans.

If we are truly to ensure broad-based economic empowerment, we cannot ignore this consequence. It must tackled with the same determination as every other legacy of the apartheid system.

We must ensure better access to capital for all South Africans.

Let's prioritise programmes that will put assets back into the hands of our poorest citizens; let's make it easier for South Africans to become home-owners; let's ensure that citizens in the former homelands enjoy their full rights as democratic citizens by providing them with security of tenure on the land on which they have lived and farmed for generations.

Let's increase transparency in decision-making on executive salaries, to moderate the growing wage gap in our county; let's ensure an equitable distribution of shares within State-Owned Enterprises; and let's encourage tax incentives for employee share schemes.

Ladies and gentlemen,

South Africa remains a deeply economically divided nation. The political liberation which took place nearly 20 years ago has not brought with it an emancipation from poverty and inequality for millions of poor, black South Africans.

We share the disappointment of the millions of our economically excluded fellow citizens, in government's inability to break down the barriers to opportunity bequeathed by Apartheid. 

But we will not stop there. We have a plan to do something about it.

Before you today is a plan that says much more can and must be done to correct the wrongs of our divided past.

Our plan is a pledge from the Democratic Alliance that not only did we fight against Apartheid; we also will continue to fight against the legacy of Apartheid.

It is our pledge that under a DA government, we will fight on behalf of economic outsiders and dedicate ourselves to creating jobs, providing services, boosting skills and making owners out of the poorest of our citizens. 

It is our commitment today that we will work tirelessly towards the realisation of our Constitutional ideal of living in a truly non-racial South Africa, where your path in life is determined not by your race or gender or by the circumstance of your birth, but by your abilities and determination to build a life that you value in a free and equal society.

Thank you. 

Issued by Lindiwe Mazibuko MP, DA Parliamentary Leader, September 9 2013

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