Speech delivered by Democratic Alliance leader, Helen Zille, at the ID National Conference at the CTICC, March 20 2010

There is more that holds us together than keeps us apart

It is a great honour to join you here today at this Special Conference of the Independent Democrats.

I believe that this conference will one day be seen as a key moment in our nation's history. It will be remembered as a vital step towards the fundamental realignment of our political landscape.

It will be seen as a significant contribution to our shared goal of ensuring the success of South Africa's young democracy.

Why do I say this?

Never, in the 16 years since 1994, have the democratic values of our constitution been more at risk than they are today.

South Africa under the ANC

The ANC lost its way a long time ago. More and more people are beginning to understand that. The party is being torn apart by warring factions. They are not fighting over principles or policies. They are fighting over who can get into power, in order to enrich themselves and their comrades. The central issue in the ANC is the contest over the next big government tender.

The ANC is not the first "liberation" government to go down this road towards the corrupt and criminal state. This is reason that most transitions to democracy have failed on our continent. That is why a small ruling elite gets richer and richer while the poor get poorer and poorer.

Political scientists have invented a new word for this kind of government. They call it a kleptocracy. Most of us know that kleptomania is the unsupressable urge to steal things, and a kleptocracy is a government whose politicians behave this way. This aptly describes ANC government.

ANC politicians and officials usually get away with this, especially if they are powerful enough, because they ensure that their comrades in other institutions of the state cover up for them.

That is why our President, charged with many counts of corruption, money laundering, fraud and racketeering, did not have to go to court like any other person, to prove his innocence. The charges against him were mysteriously withdrawn.

The embodiment of the ANC is Julius Malema. Because of the leadership vacuum in that organization, he speaks for the ANC today and he aims to be President of the ANC, and of the whole country, tomorrow.

This is a man who states publicly that he wants to nationalize the mines, but privately makes millions out of facilitating private mining deals.  This is a man who gets corrupt tenders in Limpopo, and who then builds bridges that wash away within a few weeks. This is the man who shows his support for Jub-Jub by visiting him in jail and bringing him Nando's chicken -- but ignores the families of the four children who were killed when Jub-Jub and his friend raced each other, in a drug-crazed state, down a public street.

The ANC has never repudiated these things, so we can conclude that they all symbolize the ANC today. We cannot allow them to symbolize South Africa. There must be a better alternative.

In a democracy voters get the government they deserve. Voters have the responsibility to hold politicians account. We have the responsibility to ensure that voters have the vehicle through which to do it. We must establish a strong, viable and principled alternative they can vote for. We must take our responsibility so that the voters can take theirs.

For the last four years we have spoken about realigning politics in South Africa. We have worked in coalitions with the ID, and other parties, some of which have gone well and some of which haven't.

For the last four years, I have met regularly with your leader, Patricia de Lille. I have found her to be a woman of principle, who is internationally renowned for fearlessly exposing corruption wherever she finds it. We share common values, we believe in the open society, we believe that the state has a role to play in combating poverty and extending opportunity. Our parties share these beliefs as well. And we are brought closer by our conviction that ANC's growing corruption will lead South Africa to disaster.

We have, jointly and severally, met leaders of other parties too. We believe that it is time to advance unity in order to save our democracy. We also understand that this will be a process, as it has already been over the past 4 years, and not one big-bang event.

We must progress as quickly as possible, but as slowly as necessary.

What do I mean by this? I mean that when you are moving beyond coalition politics to alliance politics, you have to make absolutely sure that the partners are compatible. It is like moving from dating to marriage. It is useful to have an engagement in between, just to make sure.

An engagement gives a couple a chance to work out whether they are really compatible, and whether their shared values bring them closer in the rough and tumble and pressure of daily life -- or whether they are driven apart.

We must also take this intermediate step if we want to take our coalition to the next level. We will spend the next few months engaging in this important part of the process.

At present, the indicators are good.

We all agree on the need to defend our constitution from its erosion at the hands of the ANC.

We all agree that the role of the state should be to expand opportunities for more and more people, not limit opportunities to the chosen, politically-connected elite.

And, we all agree that the state should do for people what they cannot be expected to do for themselves.

We all agree that race should not be the basis of your life chances, and that every person should be judged by the content of their character, not the colour of their skin. We all reject the ANC's racial nationalism.

We all know that the longer a power-abusing party remains in power, the more difficult it is for a democracy to succeed. We all know that power abuse can take a country beyond the point of no return. And we all know we are responsible for turning South Africa around before we reach that point. We all know we can make South Africa one of the world's great democracies.

I know that there are some differences between our parties. There are differences in emphasis when it comes to our policies. There are differences in style and tone. And there are differences in the issues that we choose to highlight.

But these differences are not so great that they cannot be overcome. And they are not so important that they should prevent us from joining hands to save our democracy. Nothing can be more important than that. But when we do that we must offer a clear ALTERNATIVE to the ANC, not a pale replica, a mini-me, trading on a new form of racial nationalism.

We all know that. Now we have to have the political will to make it happen.

I want to thank the ID for taking this crucial step. It will be seen as the catalyst, the culmination of a long process, the end of the beginning, and the start of a long, difficult but ultimately victorious road ahead.  This is the high road South Africa needs to succeed. Let us lead the way on it.

Issued by the Democratic Alliance, March 20 2010

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