I was at a church service in Khayelitsha last Sunday where the Priest told us in his sermon of a time when he was visiting his friend in hospital.

At the entrance there was a big door and a smaller door. People were trying to squeeze through the small door and were getting stuck.

They kept looking back, to the people behind them and complaining: why is this door stuck? Why don't they fix this door?

The priest was waiting for his turn. He looked at the big door. On the front of the big door was a sign that said: push. He went up to it and pushed. It opened wide and he walked through.

He said to the people: "You are trying to squeeze through a broken door. You are looking behind you all the time, complaining. If you just look in front of you, you will see a big door that says: push."

He said: "This is your opportunity. Look how wide this door is opening. But you did not see it because you were not looking in the right place. If you keep looking backwards, you will miss the opportunities before your eyes."

It is the same in politics.

The ANC is a broken door. It is stuck. Now people are looking backwards, to the past. They are complaining. Instead, they must just look in front at the big door that says push.

That door is the DA.

Look to the future and see the opportunity. If you push on this door, it will open wide. The DA is a party for all the people.

We say: one nation, one future.

Next year we will win the election in the Western Cape . That is a big door for everyone, irrespective of colour.

We look into a person's heart, not at the colour of their skin. We want to build a better future for everyone. But people must see their opportunity and they must use it.

That door is your opportunity.

The DA is the party that will give people opportunities. But an opportunity is useless unless you use it. You have to take the responsibility to use your opportunity.

No-one else can do it for you. You must push that door open. You must push that door with your vote.

There are two important by-elections here in Zwelethemba on December 10. That is your chance to see the big door in front of you, and stop looking over your shoulders at the past.

The ANC (kongolose) is the past. The DA is the future for all the people.

Try us. Give us a chance and, if we win, you will see the difference.

But we can only make a difference if we win. We must be in government. And that depends on you.

Some people say the DA is a white party. That is a lie. Some people even say that if the DA wins, we will bring back apartheid. We will never do that. I promise you we will never, ever do that.

I fought against apartheid. I was arrested during the struggle against apartheid when I tried to stop the police breaking down people's houses. I went into hiding because the police were looking for me.

This is a promise: we will never, ever bring back apartheid. In fact, we will bring you a government that is the opposite of apartheid, and that brings fair opportunities for all.

Everybody in Cape Town knows that the DA government in Cape Town loves and cares for all the people.

I am the Mayor in Cape Town and I work for all the people, not just for some of the people.

I have just come from Khayelitsha this morning. I know Khayelitsha very well because I spend so much time there.

We are working to put electricity and services into all the areas that did not get these things when the ANC was in government. Every day we work hard together to make things a little bit better. If you add up all those small steps over a long time, you go forward a long way.

That is what we are busy with in Cape Town and what we want to do in Worcester and Zwelethemba as well.

But you have to choose. You have seen the ANC fail. You have seen the ANC telling lies. You have seen how the ANC disrespects people, how it abuses its power and how it is corrupt.

You can stop it with your vote.

The future is in your hands. Let me tell you a story that illustrates this.

A boy once caught a butterfly because he wanted to trick an old man.

The boy held the butterfly behind his back and asked the old man: this butterfly that is behind my back: is it alive or is it dead?

The old man knew that it was a trick. He knew that if he said the butterfly was dead, the boy would open his hand and the butterfly would fly away.

But if the old man said that the butterfly was alive, the boy would crush it, and show a dead butterfly.

So the old man said: the answer lies in your hands. He knew the right answer.

And it is the same answer I give to you today.

If you ask if our future is alive or dead in South Africa , I say: the future lies in your hands.

Enough is enough

We must build South Africa together.

We must all stand together and look after each other, irrespective of colour. One nation one future!

This a translation from isi-Xhosa of a speech delivered by Democratic Alliance Leader Helen Zille at Zwelethemba Community Hall, Worcester November 23 2008