I grew up not far from here in Dobsonville. We didn’t have much. But my parents worked hard and they were dedicated to our family. My mother worked as a cashier. My father worked at the local lock making company. These jobs put food on the table. My parents made sacrifices so that my brothers, sisters and I could get the education and the opportunities they never had.I remember another time when we were joined together in a common cause. We were united against the evil system of apartheid that oppressed us.Times were tough back then but we stuck together.Our leaders were leaders, but they worked with us. And they led by example.The years have passed and times have changed. I find myself wondering what happened to that era of great leadership. Today, instead of opportunities for all, we only see opportunities for some.We see a system of insiders and outsiders. People with political connections get rich, and everyone else is left to struggle on their own. I see my friends and family struggling to get jobs. I see people without access to basic services like electricity and sanitation. And when people exercise their right to protest against their conditions, they are beaten and killed by the police. I don’t know about you, but this is not the change I wanted to see.You see, we didn’t leave the ANC – the ANC left us. The ANC left us behind, when all we ever wanted was the chance to get ahead. That is why we are making a different choice; we are choosing a party that will cut corruption and create jobs. Our destiny is in our hands.I am proud to call the Democratic Alliance my political home. It is a party that is working hard to make South Africa a better place. Every one of our policies is designed to put right the wrongs of apartheid and to fight for equality.That is why the DA supports Black Economic Empowerment, Land Reform and Social Grants.We support genuinely broad-based BEE;not BEE that empowers the same people who always get deals and tenders.We support land reform that is done sustainably so that all may benefit from the richness of our soil. We support social grants that help lift people out of poverty.Creating jobs is not easy. But it is not as difficult as our government likes to pretend it is. You start with getting rid of corruption in government. You start with ensuring that opportunities go to everybody, not just the politically-connected. You stop the system of insiders and outsiders that crushes the dreams of hard-working people. Then you open up the province for business. Not to help big business people get rich. To help businesses, big and small, to start and grow so that they can create jobs.We will do everything in our power to stop e-tolls. We were never asked if we wanted e-tolls; we were never given a choice. The only choice we have is to vote against the party that brought us e-tolls.We will deliver a quality education to every boy and every girl of Gauteng. We will do it by making sure every child has the textbooks and resources they need. We will do it by supporting dedicated teachers and rooting out those who fail our children. We have to destroy the legacy of Bantu education. There is no reason why a child from Soweto cannot have the same education as a child from Sandton.Last week Premier Mokonyane said to protestors that she doesn’t want their dirty votes. To her we say: there is no such thing as a dirty vote. There is only a dirty government. And we are coming to clean the dirt away! I know that some people are afraid of change. People fear change because they are worried that things might get even worse. They think that change means going back to the old days of apartheid. I want to pledge to you today that we will never allow South Africa to go backwards. We need to go forwards. But going forward means embracing change. Give me a chance to bring change to Gauteng. Give me a chance to bring jobs to Gauteng.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 18:43:54 +0000
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