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DA: Mmusi Maimane: Address by DA Leader, during a campaign stop, Stellenbosch Municipality (24/05/2016)

DA Leader Mmusi Maimane
DA Leader Mmusi Maimane

24th May 2016

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My fellow South Africans

Thank you for welcoming me to your beautiful community here in Klapmuts. You live in a truly special part of the world, and it means a lot to me to come out here and speak to you.

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We are now just over two months away from the 2016 local government elections. And these elections are going to be the most important elections of your life.

And the reason they will be the most important elections of your life is because we are in a race against time to save our country, our cities and our towns.

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By now, everybody knows what Jacob Zuma’s ANC has done to our country and our economy.

Everybody knows that his party is not capable of stopping him. In fact, Jacob Zuma and the ANC are the same thing. He needs them and they need him.

Everybody knows that unless we act quickly and stop him with our votes at the ballot box, our country will suffer even more. We will lose more jobs and far more people will end up in poverty.

There is only one party that can stop Zuma’s ANC and build a strong, prosperous and united South Africa, and that party is the DA.

And if we are to have any chance of stopping him, then we must make big inroads in these August elections. We must strengthen our support where we already govern, and we must take new municipalities from the ANC.

That’s why I say we are in a race against time. We are going to need every single vote we can get on 3 August.

I have spent most of the past two months traveling around the country, launching our election campaigns in cities like Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay.

During this time I have spoken and written a great deal about the change a DA government will bring to these cities.

I have spoken about how important it is for the future of our country that the DA does well in these big metros.

I have spoken about how our growth in these metros will give us the momentum we need going into the 2019 national and provincial elections.

But something we haven’t spoken about much is the importance for the DA to govern – and govern well – in our many smaller towns.

You see, it is in towns like Stellenbosch – in communities such as yours here in Klapmuts – where local governments can really make a difference in people’s lives.

When your local government works, your town works.

Water, electricity and sanitation are delivered. Potholes, burst pipes and broken lights are fixed.

Job allocations are transparent. Housing lists are transparent. Corruption isn’t tolerated and money isn’t wasted.

But local governments also play a big role in attracting the kind of business to your town that creates jobs.

When local governments do the basics right, they create an environment where businesses want to invest.

This is something the DA is proud of getting right wherever we govern. And when I say we get it right, those aren’t just my or the DA’s words.

An independent report found that the twenty worst-run municipalities in South Africa were all ANC-run.

It also found that nine of the ten best-run municipalities are governed by the DA.

Where the DA governs, more people have access to basic services, more businesses invest, and more people are able to find jobs.

That’s the power of good local government. It can make or break a town.

But for a local government to truly work for its people, it needs stability. It needs to be able to focus on its core task of delivery to the people, and not get sidetracked by political battles.

Here in Stellenbosch, the last two decades have been everything but stable.

Since 2000, when the DA first took control of Stellenbosch, this municipality has changed hands many, many times.

In 2002, the New National Party joined the ANC, and this placed Stellenbosch under ANC control again.

Four years later, at the 2006 municipal elections, the DA managed to put together a coalition and take control of the municipality.

But just two years on, after by-election in 2008, we again lost the municipality to an ANC-led coalition.

Another year later, we managed to pass a vote of no-confidence in the mayor and took control of the town again.

We finally won an outright majority in Stellenbosch in 2011, but we did so by a very narrow margin. In fact, here in Klapmuts, we won Ward 18 by only seven votes.

It doesn’t get closer than that. This ward and this municipality are still on a knife’s edge. We simply cannot allow our hard work since 2011 to be undone.

Which is why it is crucial that we turn Klapmuts into a strong DA ward. And it is crucial that we increase our majority in the whole of Stellenbosch.

Because only then can we carry on doing what the DA does best: bringing clean, caring and efficient government to the 160 000 people who call Stellenbosch their home.

I know that we still have much work to do here. While the DA has made progress here over the past five years, there is still a lot that needs to be done.

I know the problems that you still face here in this community. I know that many people here struggle to find work.

I know that you worry about your children. I know that they are targeted by drug dealers and that you feel you can’t always protect them.

I know many of your children struggle to finish school, and that you worry about their future.

It’s not easy raising children in uncertain times, when jobs are scarce and crime threatens your daily life.

But the only way to beat this is by standing together.

You need to vote for a government that you know will work for you, and then you need to partner with that government to build the community you want.

Because we are better together. The people of Klapmuts working together with a DA local government can turn this community and this town into the safe and prosperous place we all dream of.

Together we can kick drug dealers and gangs out of Klapmuts, and out of Stellenbosch.

Together we can make these streets safe, and give our children hope for the future.

Together we can get this town and its people working again.

I know we can do this, because there is another thing that sets the DA apart from the ANC: We appoint only the best people to run our towns and cities.

We don’t believe in rewarding loyal cadres with comfortable jobs. We believe in finding the people with the skills, the courage and the motivation to do the job.

And one such a person is here on this stage today.

Gesie van Deventer has a track record of excellence when it comes to running a town.

As Mayor of Drakenstein municipality, she inherited a town left in ruin by the ANC. But she turned Drakenstein into one of the best-run municipalities in the country.

And now she is going to do the same for Stellenbosch. She is the right person for the job, but she will need your help.

So let’s go out there on 3 August and turn Klapmuts and Stellenbosch blue.

Thank you.

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