You can choose a party that cares about you
Note to editors: This is an extract of a speech prepared for delivery today in Segopye Village in Limpopo. Helen Zille was addressing residents about the lack of housing and basic services in the area.
Fellow South Africans,
I am here today to offer you a simple message before you vote on 18 May. At this election, you can choose a party that cares about you. In the past, most people in this area made a different choice. They chose councillors that cared only about themselves and their cronies. They chose a party that cares only about itself.
That is why you sit here without the RDP houses you were promised. That is why you still don't have access to basic services 17 years since the dawn of democracy. I have heard that you have dug your own boreholes for water. And I have heard that you collect water from the river in wheelbarrows - even though it is nearly 20 km away.
You don't have to live like this.
If the DA won power here, we would prioritize the provision of basic services. I am not saying you would have a house, running water, electricity and sanitation overnight. But we would get working right away.
We wouldn't just let things slide like your municipality has done. We would move things in the right direction until everybody had access to basic services. We would work for you because it is the right thing to do. And we would work for you because we would be scared of losing your vote if we didn't.
The ANC here is not scared of you. They think you will vote the same way forever, no matter how badly you are treated. You are being taken for granted. That is why you don't have running water here.
It is the same story in many parts of the country. This week, the ANC Mayor of Ficksburg in the Free State was asked why there has been no water in his municipality for four years. He just laughed and produced a bottle of mineral water from his fridge.
That is how the ANC treats the people who vote for it. With contempt. They say that, in a democracy, the voters get the government they deserve. Well I think that you deserve better than this. But it's not up to me. If you think you deserve a better life, then you need to think about changing the way you vote.
Give us a try at this election. If you are not happy after five years, you can try somebody else. Just lend us your vote for five years. After all, what have you got to lose?
You can choose five more years without housing, running water and other basic services.
Or you can choose the DA.
Make sure you vote on the 18 May.
And vote DA.
Because the DA delivers for all!
Issued by the Democratic Alliance, April 20 2011
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