Note to editors: This is a speech delivered by DA Parliamentary Leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko, to the Gauteng Provincial Congress, March 10 2012

A stronger DA means a stronger Parliament and a stronger South Africa

Colleagues, friends, and fellow democrats,

It is a wonderful sight to look across an army of democrats, dressed in the blue colours of freedom. Coming to Gauteng always makes my heart beat a little faster. I have a special place in my heart for this province, and I feel that especially here today.  

This provincial congress is an opportunity for us all to prepare for the challenges that lay ahead. Today, I am here to bring you a tough but exciting message. The Democratic Alliance has set an ambitious target to double our vote in the next election. We aim to win 30% of the national vote in 2014.

It is an ambitious target, yes. But it is also one which we have reached through a great deal of research. And given that today, we are a party with 24% support nationally - that one in four South Africans is now a DA voter - you can see that it is also a target that we can achieve. 

One of our primary goals in 2014 is also to govern Gauteng Province, either by winning outright or in a coalition. This places an awesome responsibility upon you. Gauteng has been the scene of many famous victories in our party's history. Indeed many of you here today participated in those victories.

And so we are calling each one of you to service again. We are living in the age of the permanent campaign. We have a big mountain to climb in only two years, and every single one of us has a role to play in helping us to reach that goal.

There are some who will say: "Slow down. Steady the course. Let's move step-by-step. Let's wait for the ANC government to lose power." But we know that every day longer that this government remains in place, things get worse. We know that in order to see our country reach its full potential, we need an alternative with the political will to take on some of the major challenges facing our people.     

The government we have today is determined to interfere with the judiciary; it wants to undermine freedom through the Secrecy Bill; it wants to change the constitution, interfere in the work of the provinces, and control everything from hospitals to schools - even as the best-run hospitals and schools are all managed by the DA in the best-run province in South Africa! 

Colleagues, history demands that we play our part, starting today.

Make no mistake about it: a DA with 30% of the vote and 30% of the seats in parliament would make a big difference to how we are governed, not only provincially but also nationally. The ANC would no longer be able to use parliament as an easy rubber-stamp for laws that are passed down from Luthuli House. 

Our Parliament - your Parliament - has been side-lined from its position as the country's most important place of public debate. We want to restore it to its rightful place. Returning a stronger DA to that important institution will enable us to do just that. Parliament must be the place where big ideas are born. And in these difficult economic times, it must be the place where ambitious policies to improve the lives of our poorest citizens are conceived. 

Over the last few weeks, you will have heard that ANC is considering ways in which the Constitution might be amended. 

This development worries us deeply, because the Constitution, our national compact, is above party-politics. It must stand as governments come and go - including this one. 

Our strength in Parliament will ensure that we can oppose changes to our Constitution that would overturn the foundational values and principles of our national compact: non-racialism; the separation of powers; the independence of the judiciary; unity and equality in diversity. We will do whatever we must to defend and protect these values.
But, friends, we are not sailing in the dark. We have the example of one of this province's most famous daughters, Helen Suzman, to guide us.

Helen worked day in, and day out. Although she was famous and widely respected, she never lost her sense of responsibility. No airs and graces, no sense of entitlement. She held public service in awe. No cause was too small, not one vote taken for granted. It is to her example that we look today, as we consider the awesome task ahead of us.

As a party tested in opposition and tempered by government, we know that there are no easy ways to the future.

Some of our opponents like to claim that the DA is only a party of the Western Cape. They could not be more wrong. Helen Zille did not get lucky in the Western Cape in 2009. And Patricia De Lille did not get lucky in Cape Town in 2011. Victory was won by hard work, sacrifice and commitment.

And so, from the ‘City on the Hill' to Constitution Hill, the DA is writing a new story of the ‘Open, Opportunity Society for All'. 

Gauteng is the nation's most diverse province, and our country's economic heartland. The DA is the most diverse political party in South Africa today. If the DA wins here, we can win everywhere. If the DA can govern Gauteng in 2014, we can govern South Africa in 2019. 

But we do not want to win government because we are power hungry. We don't want to win just to dispense patronage and cronyism. We want to win because we know how difficult government is. And because we know that the people of this province and this country deserve better.   

We want to win because we know that it's not enough for a small, well-connected elite to prosper. We want to grow our economy and build a prosperous nation so that more and more of our people can experience the pride and dignity that come from working hard, becoming  successful, and enjoying the real fruits of freedom. We want to win so that we can build a confident, united nation in which everybody defends each other's right to have opportunities.

If there is a child in Soweto who can't get to school, that matters to you and me, even if she is not your child or my child. 

If there is a grandmother in Brackpan who can't pay for her electricity, and she has to choose between staying warm and buying food, that makes our lives poorer.

If a man cannot find work because he can't afford R10 for taxi fare, that matters to the businessman who rides to work on the Gautrain.

Friends, this is the message you must take across this province, because from Alexandra to the glass towers of Sandton City: all will benefit from a country in which everyone gets a fair chance.   

At the last election, I travelled throughout this vibrant and dynamic province, from Ivory Park to Tembisa, from Protea South to Midvaal, and from the Ekurhuleni to Midrand.  

When I am out on the campaign trail, I don't hear people saying that they expect a DA government to solve all of their problems. Instead I see the hope that, with a change in priorities, we can make sure that every citizen has a decent chance to live a life they value. 

South Africa will not be the country it can be, until we fix our schools so that every child gets a decent education, and everybody gets to participate in a non-racial economy. And in the DA's community of shared values, this also means that everybody has a responsibility to do their fair share.

During a recent by-election, I was campaigning door-to-door in Nigel when I came across a middle-aged white woman proudly toyi-toying in her DA t-shirt. And no, colleagues. I am not talking about our Leader!

Now, I know that the East Rand is a progressive place. 

But still, it was a wonderful sight to see how many young men of the DA were tapping this lady's knees, teaching her new songs, and showing her how to jump and toyi-toyi even higher. And her technique, I must tell you, improved very quickly!

Across the valley, members of the ANC were holding a rally too. Heaven knows what they thought the DA was up to. We could see, but we could not hear each other. 

I could only smile as I looked at this picture. Here were men and women of different ages and races and genders and backgrounds, all coming together under the banner of the DA's vision for this country. And here too, were two political parties, contesting the same terrain, campaigning peacefully. Not as mortal enemies, but as political opponents. This, and a thousand other pictures, tell us how far our democracy has come. 

Whatever our policy differences are, we remain one nation, under one constitution. We should be able to ask the ANC difficult questions about their policies, and they us, without our love for our country being questioned.  

But our constitution, which is bigger than any political party, is now under threat. Throughout our beautiful country, service delivery is in a state of collapse. Our Parliament needs to be fixed. The DA represents the difference between what South Africa is and what it can be.

But this is the time for action, and not words. And the work that lies ahead for us is not only to build a bigger base of DA voters, but also of activists who believe in and live our values every day. 

Let us now turn to work. The prize is great, and the destination is in sight. 
Together we will win!
Viva DA, viva!

Issued by the DA, March 10 2012

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