Fighting for Change, Fighting for Jobs

Note to editors: The following speech was delivered at the DA's Fighting for Jobs Rally at Ellis Park Indoor Arena, Johannesburg, this morning. The party's Pledge to the People of Gauteng, our provincial manifesto was launched. The full document is available here.

We stand today on the doorstep of history.

We are at a moment that will never be forgotten. Change has never been so possible in Gauteng.

There is a truth that I want to share with you, and I want you to share it with every person you speak to:

Change is coming to Gauteng. And its coming through the DA.

For the first time, we have a real fight on our hands in this province. For the first time the two heavyweight contenders are up against each other in the ring, and this time the boxer in blue can win!

More than ever before, we are in a fight that we can win.

When we launched this campaign, at Walter Sisulu Square in Soweto, we said to Gauteng that change was coming. We said that together there was a new hope for us and a new future.

I made a promise, and I made a pledge, and today I am here to say that the promise I made has never been more sincere.

We are Together for Change, Together for Jobs.

More so, today we affirm that we are Fighting for Change, Fighting for Jobs!

To make that promise real, today we launch our Gauteng Manifesto.

This manifesto is our Pledge to the People of Gauteng.

This manifesto is the foundation of the future I speak of for this Province.

It is a future of opportunities for all under the DA.

Wherever I go across Gauteng I meet with people who are so hopeful for change. 

But change must bring real improvements to people's lives.

Change must bring real opportunity. Change must bring jobs.

It must bring safety, it must bring excellent healthcare and it must bring quality education.

That is why our Pledge to the People covers exactly these things. 

We deserve to live in a province that produces the best quality of life in South Africa. We deserve to live in a province that delivers the best services.We deserve to live in a province that creates jobs, not destroys them.

We all deserve to wake up each morning to a Gauteng that delivers opportunities for all.

You see, I believe that the government of Gauteng must truly serve the people.

I believe in a government of principled service, by skilled and qualified people.

That is the government we must create for the people of Gauteng.

And that is the government that it would be my honour to lead. This will be a government in which no corruption is ever tolerated.

Democrats, it is a disgrace that this year the government of Gauteng wasted R6-billion through corruption. Six Billion Rand!

That is money meant for you and me, for every citizen. It is money meant to build hospitals and schools and houses.

But is has been wasted because corruption is everywhere we look.

Under a DA government, no person convicted of fraud and corruption will hold public office, or work in government.

And those who do work for government will not be able to win tenders because we will pass a law to make this illegal.

We will also make all tender committees completely open to the public - everyone who wants to watch must be able to see how tenders are awarded.

There will be no tenders behind closed doors under a DA government.

I also believe that politicians who serve the people do not deserve to live a life of the rich and famous.

That is why we will introduce a new Ministerial Handbook in Gauteng.

With this handbook we will cut luxuries for government MECs and for the Premier, and all senior officials.

No more R1,3-million cars. No more credit cards. No more R500,000.00 swimming pools, or fire-pools. No more banquets and parties.

Instead we will serve the people, and we will not ask for champagne is return.

I believe that doing these things will cut corruption from government in Gauteng, and will save billions and billions of rands.

The money we save will go right back to the people. It is your money, and the DA government will return it to you for service delivery.

We will return it through delivering on our promises and through providing better services.

You see democrats corruption kills jobs, and it kills opportunity. That is why we must fight corruption with every ounce of energy we have. 

Fighting for Change, Fighting for Jobs!

Democrats we know that the first step to job creation is quality education. In South Africa this government is sabotaging our kids right at the start with poor education. 

The improvements the DA will bring start where our people grow and develop.

We will make education work, so that our young people can work.

Our vision is for education to be the best start any child could wish for. We want to give our children the chance to succeed.

We will upgrade our schools, and we will build new schools that focus on Maths, Science and Technology.

We will get principals and teachers to perform better - they will have to write tests to make sure they are good enough.

We cannot have teachers giving tests to learners when they cannot pass a test themselves. 

Most importantly, we will deliver 100% of textbooks, on time, to every school, for every learner, in every subject.

By doing these things we will help every child to get ahead in life. And every child will be set to enter any job they have a passion to do.

No more will the child in Soweto receive an inferior education to the child in Sandton.

The doors will be open to all of their futures. Viva quality education, Viva!

I believe that this provincial government can do so much to help create jobs for millions more people.

You see, where the DA governs we create jobs. Unemployment is the lowest in the country where the DA governs.

While South Africa lost 122 000 jobs under Jacob Zuma's ANC, the DA created 48 000 where we govern. That's the difference!

This is what I want to bring to Gauteng, as the next Premier of Gauteng.

We will implement the Youth Wage Subsidy, and employ thousands of young people that way.

We will also create thousands of apprenticeships.They will be available to young people in the private sector.

But we must do more than just empower young people to get jobs. We must empower people to start businesses.

Entrepreneurs must lead job creation in Gauteng. 

Right now government is working against entrepreneurs. This is a government that makes suppliers wait months for their payments.

It is a government that acts outside the law to forcefully remove traders from our city centres. We will do things differently. 

Suppliers will be paid on time.

We will break down large tenders into smaller ones so that small businesses can have a chance to compete.

And we will support informal traders not break down their businesses by force.

Democrats, starting a business is so expensive and difficult under this government. 

We can't have small businesses struggling to pay rent.

But at the same time there are so many government buildings in Gauteng that are vacant or under-used.

In fact government owns 55% of the land in Gauteng! So my pledge to you is that we will transform these buildings.

Small businesses with promising ideas need offices. And under the DA they will be able to rent this space from the DA Gauteng government at just R1 a year.

We also want to create one stop shops where entrepreneurs can go to get help from government.

At Walter Sisulu Square I made a promise about rolling out Opportunity Centres where entrepreneurs can access resources and support. That remains my commitment.

Democrats we must fight for policies that create jobs. With these policies we can make Gauteng a place of opportunity for all.

So for every person with a great business idea who just can't get ahead because times are hard, this is your fight too!

Fighting for Change, Fighting for Jobs!

Instead of job creation policies, what we get from this government is a job-destroyer in the form of e-tolls.

We will fight e-tolls with all of our power. And we will give you the decision by having a referendum to vote directly against e-tolls.

As companies get more and more e-toll bills, they will make things more and more expensive for us to buy - so e-tolls will cost every person in Gauteng.

Shoprite's e-toll bill is already R4-million. This will make food more expensive and all of us poorer!

Under the DA we will make it easier for people to move, not more expensive.

We will introduce one ticket for all public transport. From Train, to bus, to ReaVaya - all on one ticket.

And that ticket will be free for pensioners and the unemployed. 

Our old people, and those without work must not pay for public transport!

Through these things we will achieve freedom of movement in Gauteng.

For every person who values freedom of movement to your place of work, your church, your school and to your loved ones - this is your fight too!

As life becomes easier for people to move around and find work, we will see more people able to find and buy their own land and houses.

Buying your first house is a feeling of joy. 

But there are so many people who still desperately need the government to help them with a house.

In Gauteng today, after 20 years, almost 700,000 of our people sit waiting for their own house and title deed.

Democrats, this is not good enough! Our call is simple: Quality Housing, and Title Deeds FOR ALL!

We must own the land of our country. We must own the soil that we live on.

It is time for us all to say together: Title Deeds FOR ALL!

For every person who can't invest in their property because you don't have a title deed, or because you don't have a place to call home - this is your fight too!

And where we live, we must be safe.

I believe that no citizen of Gauteng should live in fear of crime - Our Police must act.

Today our communities are overrun by crime and by drugs.

Druglords are operating from government housing.

We see this in communities like Eldorado Park. 

Democrats, today I pledge that we will evict druglords from all public property - that is our promise. 

And we will fight for better policing.

We will demand three special Police units:

The Drug Squad

The Gang Unit

The Domestic Violence Division

And we will pass the Community Safety Act in Gauteng.

This law will give us power to hold the police accountable. We will watch over them, and we will keep the Police working hard and working honestly.

This will let us put the power and resources to fight crime in the hands of every neighbourhood watch, community policing forum, and drug action committee.

The safety of our people is critical, and we will work to improve it every day.

For every person who wants to feel safe in Gauteng, who wants their kids to stay away from drugs - this is your fight too!

From the first day that I walk into the doors of the Premier's office, and as our cabinet of the best-qualified MECs take up their posts - we will work to serve and protect the people of Gauteng.

It is a cause that gives me great hope. To get there we must take up the fight with everything that we have.

We have come a long way since we launched this campaign in Walter Sisulu Square back in November.

Our ground war is taking our message to every corner of Gauteng.

Our canvassers are working to get to every door in every street.

But we must do more to win this fight.

If you are an activists, you must get to every person in every area.

If you are handing out flyers, we must get into every postbox, and every hand.

Our posters must be boldly displayed.

Our events must be seen by every person anywhere close. We must spread the word, and we must tell one and all.

After this manifesto launch I will spend the next four weeks running intensive campaign activities in the Regions of this great Province.

Each weekend we will hold a mass march, and a mass rally.

These events will be for you, and everyone in Gauteng, to join in turning this Province blue.

We must show our strength to our opponents.

While they stand up to defend Nkandla, we will stand up to fight for change.

While they stand up to defend e-Tolls, we will stand up to fight for change

While they stand up to tell good stories when all we see is unemployment, we will stand up to fight for jobs.

And with all of our might, we must commit to wining this fight.

I look at my two young children. They are 3 years and 1 year old, and I have great hopes for them.

The Gauteng of our future must be one where all children will grow up to become anything they want to be.

Ultimately, we must leave them a better place to live in than we see today.

That is what we are fighting for. We must take the fight to every corner of Gauteng, because victory is ours. We can win and we MUST win Gauteng!

For the 80 year old gogos who tell me they still fetch and carry water with wheelbarrows - We MUST win Gauteng!

For the children who tell me their schools are dysfunctional, and they have not yet gotten their textbooks for this year - We MUST win Gauteng!

For the communities I visit who tell me they fear the red ants coming to evict them because they have no title deed after waiting for 20 years - We MUST win Gauteng!

For the women who walk each day around sewage that flows openly down their streets - We MUST win Gauteng.

For every person in Gauteng whose life has become more expensive through the unjust system of e-tolls - We MUST win Gauteng.

For the millions of young people who want to earn money to build better lives, but can't find jobs - we MUST win Gauteng.

We must win, and we can win.

Our Destiny is indeed in our hands!

And on 7 May, we must take that destiny and hold it in our hands. On 7 May, we must vote for that destiny, and we must Vote DA.

Together, we will make Gauteng great. Together, we are fighting for Change. Together, we are fighting for Jobs!

Nkosi sikelel iAfrica. AMANDLA!

Issued by the DA, March 29 2014

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