Speech by Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille at the launch of her party's 2009 election manifesto, University of Johannesburg, February 14 2009

My fellow South Africans,

Today the Democratic Alliance presents its manifesto for the 2009 election.

This manifesto is our blueprint for a winning nation. It is based on carefully costed and mutually reinforcing policies that set out practical steps to attain our vision. This manifesto is the compass by which we must steer, to become one nation with one future.

When we launched our campaign two weeks ago, I said this election would be a contest between two visions, which would take our country in opposite directions. These divergent visions can be described as the "open, opportunity society for all" versus the "closed, crony society for some".

The first option leads to success; the second inevitably to failure.

In the open, opportunity society, citizens have the chances they need to shape their own lives, improve their skills and follow their dreams. Their government focuses on promoting and expanding equal opportunities for all. People are not held back by gender, religion, colour, disability or prejudice. Outcomes are linked to effort - not special favours handed out by the dominant clique in the ruling party.People use their opportunities and thereby create new opportunities for others.

That is the society the DA offers you. That is the society this manifesto brings to life.

In the closed, crony society, people's prospects depend on who they know in the ruling party, not what they know. The closed, crony society is not about creating opportunity: it's about jobs for pals and deals for political contacts. It's about creating dependency. It involves a closed circle of insiders looking after each other, with less and less for everyone else.

The closed, crony society robs people of opportunity. It inevitably leads to corruption.  It makes poor people poorer.

Over the past few weeks, I have visited many poor communities around the country. I have travelled from Bela-Bela in Limpopo to Botshabelo in the Free State to Lindelani and Newlands East in KwaZulu Natal; from Parkside and Buffalo Flats in the Eastern Cape, to Vosman and Sakhile in Mpumalanga.

Many people in these communities cannot find jobs. Sick people cannot get the health care they need.  Many children cannot read, write or calculate properly because their schooling is so poor. Access to basic services - like water and sanitation - is a daily struggle for many. 

In short, millions of South Africans do not have the opportunities they need to improve their lives.  They cannot imagine the prospect of a better future.  Many have resigned themselves to a worse tomorrow.

Today the DA offers South Africa a plan to bring change and hope.  It is a plan that offers every South African the opportunity to become the best they can be; to fulfil their own potential and our collective dream of one prosperous nation with a shared future.

The manifesto we present today is that plan.

It is the product of a long process that involved much research and hard work, undertaken by James Selfe and Julia Frielinghaus, two torch-bearers for our cause. 

 From the beginning, our mission was clear. We wanted to offer a new and dynamic vision for our country. We wanted to present a clear alternative that would be both visionary and practical.

We listened to people. We worked with experts inside and outside our party. We made sure all our policies fit together, making the whole greater than the sum of the parts.  And we made sure that the entire package would be affordable.

Today marks the culmination of that process. Today, we present to you our plan for a winning nation.

Let me be clear about this manifesto: it is unashamedly pro-poor. In fact, it is the most pro-poor of any party's manifesto, because it is the only one that focuses on breaking the cycle of poverty by creating real opportunities for all.  It is not merely about poverty alleviation.  It is about starting the process of poverty eradication.

We will create an OPPORTUNITY SOCIETY through policies that grow the economy and offer people the skills they need to improve their lives.

In the opportunity society, a young girl from Sakhile must have a fair chance to overcome poverty and develop her natural talents by matching her opportunities with hard work and personal responsibility. It must be possible for a young boy, living in a child-headed household in Bela-Bela to become a captain of industry, if he combines effort and ability.

Excellent education is a foundation stone of opportunity.  The DA's policy seeks to ensure quality education by focusing on the essentials:  reading, writing and calculating.  We will apply strategies to improve school management and build a corps of dedicated and able teachers, whose performance is measured and rewarded; and where failure to perform has career limiting consequences.

As the young girl from Sakhile makes the most of her education opportunities and performs well, she will get bursary support to study further.

And after she passes matric, she will receive an opportunity voucher that she can use to start a small business or subsidise the costs of further education.

When she has completed her studies, we will make it easier for her to enter the labour market by reforming the laws that destroy the prospects of many unemployed people to get jobs.  We will encourage employers to hire first-time jobseekers like her by subsidising her wage for a specific period to enable her to gain experience and demonstrate what she is capable of doing.

And once she is settled in her first job, this young woman who once might have spent her life unemployed and without hope, will have the opportunity to improve her skills, because a DA government will reimburse her employer for the cost of her training.

And as she grows in experience and skills, more doors will open for her, because under a DA government the economy will prosper through a combination of low inflation, sound human resource management, and a corporate tax regime that attracts investment and creates more jobs.

As for the young boy from Bela-Bela, he will have the chance to reach the top of the corporate ladder. Not because he has political connections and can benefit from corrupt, crony deals, but because he benefits from a truly broad-based empowerment policy that recognises and rewards his skills, hard work and dedication.

We will create an OPEN SOCIETY by protecting and defending the Constitution and by putting power back where it belongs - in the hands of citizens.  We want politicians to be frightened of the voters.

Residents in places like Botshabelo will feel passionately the need to protect and defend the rights and freedoms for which previous generations fought so hard.  They will protect these rights against the power abuse of a ruling clique.

We will empower voters by giving them the opportunity to elect their President, Premier and Mayor directly. We will bring government closer to the people by empowering provincial and local governments. We will introduce elements of a constituency-based electoral system to make politicians more accountable to the people.

And a DA government will adopt a zero-tolerance approach to corruption. No person convicted of corruption, fraud, theft or violent crime will be permitted to hold public office.

We will create a CARING SOCIETY by providing an appropriate social safety net of state grants, improving the quality of healthcare and generating more housing opportunities.

No-one from Lindelani or Newlands East or Parkside, or anywhere else, should be forgotten by the state, or go hungry or homeless, or stand in long queues outside hospitals.

For the DA, welfare goes hand in hand with responsibility. So in order for a child's guardian to claim the Child Support Grant, she must demonstrate that the child is properly cared for, attends school, and goes for regular health checks.  And if the child is neglected, the welfare system will intervene.

When that child becomes a young adult, he will have access to various work opportunities depending on his circumstances. He could kick-start his career by signing up for a Youth Development Programme, or enrol for voluntary community service in the public sector, the police or the defence force.

No-one will be forgotten when the DA is in government. A basic income grant will catch those who fall through the cracks of the social safety net.  But above all, we will grow the number of South Africans who earn their own living, care for themselves and their families and create more opportunities for all.

The DA will accelerate the fight against HIV/Aids - both through prevention and treatment programmes.  Our philosophy of personal responsibility is central to combating HIV transmission.  The public health care system must provide treatment to those who need it. We will improve the quality of public health care by training and recruiting more nurses and doctors and by applying sound management systems.

We will help to create more housing opportunities by streamlining the laws that obstruct the release of appropriate housing land.  We will upgrade informal settlements, and ensure that the housing subsidies reach many families in need, not just the fortunate few.

We will create a SAFE SOCIETY by ensuring that criminals are caught, prosecuted, convicted and punished.Every person must know that if they commit a crime they will pay the price.

Everywhere I have been during this campaign, people live in fear. Crime is out of control because most criminals know they can get away with it.  They are seldom caught, and even when they are, their chances of avoiding justice are high because conviction rates are so low.

We have a plan to make the criminal justice system work. We will expand the police force to 250 000 competent officers. We will improve detection rates by employing 30 000 more qualified detectives, increase prosecution rates by reducing court backlogs, and ensure that criminals serve the time they deserve. For us, "life means life".

We will bring back the Scorpions and specialised crime-fighting units. We will crack down on drug- and alcohol-fueled crimes by reinstating the narcotics bureau, tripling funding for the central drug authority and tightening up on bail for drug offences.

The DA will release reliable crime statistics, and we will help victims by providing a fund for victims of crime.

We will also make prisoners work, to equip them with skills they can use outside prison, and so that they can contribute to the debt they owe to society.

We will create an EFFICIENT SOCIETY.  

Public servants will serve the public, not themselves. And we will protect those who blow the whistle on corrupt officials.

We will provide a transport system that is safe, reliable and affordable. Our roads will be better maintained and safer to travel on, and our rail network will be expanded. Our urban areas will be linked to rural areas through a properly maintained network of infrastructure.

And because the DA believes in building vibrant and sustainable rural communities, with opportunities for all, we will stimulate agricultural production and remove the bottle-necks that hold up land distribution and restitution. South Africa will produce enough food to feed the nation.

We want our urban and rural areas to be clean and energy-efficient.  We will tap alternative energy sources for a cleaner environment.

As with our natural heritage, we will protect and preserve our rich cultural heritage.

We will create a SOCIETY THAT HAS A PLACE FOR ALL by promoting and protecting the language, and cultural heritage of all the rainbow people.

We want our children to grow up to know about our past, both the bad and the good. We want them to love South Africa in all our diversity, our kaleidoscope of colours, our tapestry of languages, our rich array of cultures.

South Africa CAN become one nation with one future.

Real change is within our reach. It is here, in the pages of the DA's manifesto. This is our prospectus for change, and our pledge to the people.  

We can have a better South Africa. We can deliver it. We can afford it. We can have real change, and we can have it now.

My friends, in this election, South Africa faces a clear choice. We can choose to succeed by becoming an open, opportunity society for all, or we can become a failed state, a closed, crony society for some.

You, the voters, have the power to make this choice for South Africa.  It is a choice between success or failure for our children and grandchildren.

The DA loves South Africa.  We know South Africa can become one of the world's great democracies.  This manifesto is our strategy to achieve that.

So vote DA to build a winning nation. With one future. 

This is our plan. We can deliver. We can win. And with your support, we will!

Issued by the Democratic Alliance, February 14 2009