Young South Africans will make history in 2014 elections

Note to editors: these were remarks delivered today by the DA's Parliamentary Leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko MP, at the launch of a new Democratic Alliance Student Organisation (DASO) branch at the Vaal University of Technology.

It is always a proud moment for me to be invited to the launch of a DASO branch, especially here in Gauteng.

This province has an amazing energy not found anywhere else in Mzansi and I can feel it here at Vaal University of Technology today.

It makes me excited, because it is young people like you, right here in Gauteng, who are going to shape the elections next year, and the future of this country.

I hope you can feel this energy too. The ANC certainly can and they are worried! That is why over the weekend, Gwede Mantashe arrogantly said that those who think the ANC will lose Gauteng are "dreaming."

The ANC thought the same when they were in government in the Western Cape before the 2009 elections, and the same in the City of Cape Town before the 2006 elections. 

Like in Tlokwe this past month, they received a big surprise. 

So my message to Mr Mantashe today, as I look around this room, is that you are in for a big surprise again, this time in Gauteng.

Because South Africans are not dreaming - they are saying enough is enough. And they are going to tell you this at the ballot box next year.

Just look around this room and you can sense the change. DASO is the fastest growing student organisation in the country.

We are taking over universities where people said to us:

"You don't stand a chance."

"Forget it."

"You're crazy."

Let me give you an example: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Three years ago, DASO launched a branch on that campus. We secured 19% of the vote in our first year. Three years later, just a few months ago, we took 75% of the vote.

Now let me tell you what we've done since we took control of that SRC. 

When you're endlessly looking for a place to sleep at night and struggling for money to put a meal on the table, you are not going to be focused on your studies here at university. At NMMU, DASO negotiated across-the-board increases in meal allowances and housing assistance for students who depend on financial assistance, in order to allow them to focus on their studies.

We can do the same right here.

Some of you here today have to travel far to come to VUT. Traveling is expensive. Petrol, trains, taxi fares, they're all going up more than down these days. At NMMU, the DASO-led SRC has implemented a comprehensive shuttle service to help all students get to class and make the most of their studies. 

We can do the same right here.

South Africa is country of diversity. It is a diversity that we celebrate but it is not without its challenges. Many of you speak English as a second or third language. Yet classes and exams are in English. DASO believes in establishing mother-tongue tutoring sessions to help students achieve their potential. This has been implemented at NMMU. Students who attended those mother-tongue tutorials achieved a 100% pass rate in 2011 and 2012.

We can do the same right here.

This is an exciting time for this campus. The candidate representatives here in this new DASO branch are people you can believe in and trust with your best interests. Who you vote for in your SRC determines who is going to look out for those interests. They will help determine what kind of conditions you learn in every day you are here. The better your circumstances, the better marks you're going to get. The better marks you get, the better the job you will get one day.

So don't think for a second that elections aren't important. How you vote will help determine your future both on campus and in South Africa.

The year ahead for South Africa is vital. In a little over 9 months from now, many of you will have the chance to vote in the general elections - some of you for the first time in your lives.

Hands up if you're registered to vote.

Hands up if you're going to register to vote.

What I am going to tell you now is hugely important for our country. Register to vote. It is an important act of civic duty. Get your friends, your classmates, and your family to register.

Let me tell you why it's so important.

As the youth of South Africa, you have more to lose or gain than anybody else in this country. You still have long lives to live. Most of you are probably in your twenties.

The choice you make at the polling station next year will shape the decisions which are made in our country on the economy, on jobs, on education and health. All of these things will impact you and your loved ones in a very direct way.

So when you walk into that polling station on what will probably be a crisp winter's day in Gauteng, you will have a choice before you that will shape the future of our country. You will have a choice that will shape your life for decades to come. When you cast your vote I want you to think of your future.

Almost 6 million young South Africans will have the opportunity to vote for the first time next year. So don't think for a second that the youth doesn't have any clout. At almost 20% of the electorate, you've got plenty. It is you, the youth of South Africa, who will determine the path that South Africa takes from next year.

Is your vote going to bring a government that rewards an honest day's work or the cosy relationships between political cronies?

Will your vote bring the basic level of health care up to a quality standard so that you don't have to worry about which state hospital to take your loved ones when they are sick?

Will your vote bring change, so that thousands of women in our country no longer have to walk tens of kilometres every day to fetch dirty water to cook and clean their homes with?

Will your vote bring you a Gauteng which really works like the powerhouse of Africa that it should be?

I believe in you and your generation. In my role as parliamentary leader of the opposition, I spend a lot of time traveling our country. I have had the privilege of launching DASO branches like yours as far afield as the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Thanks to young people like you, DASO has grown from a single branch at UCT in 2007, to 27 branches today, on campuses such as Fort Hare University, Mangosuthu University of Technology, and the University of Pretoria.

You have already shown is that you are a generation of passion and service. Every time you vote and participate in politics, you have a chance to project that passion and positive vision towards the decision makers of our land.

This is what is at stake in this election and it's what's at stake on campus here at VUT.

So, vote for change.

Vote with the future in your heart and mind.

Vote so we can all be the best we can be. 

Vote for the future of our beautiful country.

Viva DA, viva!

Thank you.

Issued by the DA, July 31 2013

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