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At an ANC fundraiser last night, President Jacob Zuma was quoted as having said that democracy needed “to produce good results”, and not a strong opposition, in order to be successful. This is a profoundly undemocratic statement for an incumbent president to make. It is also patently untrue, for the simple reason that in South Africa, the best results are to be found where the national opposition party governs, not the ANC.

This is not a matter of Democratic Alliance (DA) opinion. In fact, it is what President Zuma's national government has found to be true.

According to the National Department of Cooperative Government’s 2010 Universal Household Access to Basic Services Report (UHABS), the DA-run City of Cape Town is by far the most proficient at providing access to basic services such as electricity, water, refuse removal and sanitation to its citizens:

• Water: 100% - first among all metros
• Refuse: 98% - first among all metros
• Electricity: 95% - first among all metros
• Universal access: 91% - first among all metros
• Sanitation: 94% - tied first with Johannesburg

What this and other reports tell us is that the DA delivers for all the people, to a higher standard than the ANC. And as a result, where the DA governs, citizens are more satisfied with the level of service delivery.

A TNS research survey released last week found that the level of satisfaction with service delivery in Cape Town exceeds that found in any other metro:

• Cape Town: 57% (Satisfied with delivery); 39% (Unsatisfied); 4% (Unsure)
• Mangaung: 52%; 48%; 0%
• Tshwane: 44%; 50%; 6%
• Johannesburg: 43%; 51%; 6%
• Ekhurleni: 41%; 48%; 11%
• eThekwini: 35%; 57%; 8%
• N. Mandela: 29%; 65%; 5%

These are the empirical facts. There are many more, and they all say the same thing: the best “results” in South Africa are to be found where the DA governs.

Excellence is the principle that underpins competition - the basis upon which any multiparty democracy is built. But clearly the ANC longs for a one-party state; one which is not subject to the rigour of competition, and does not offer its citizens options for alternative government. Given how poorly its track record compares to that of the DA, perhaps that is understandable - but the President's public statements to this effect are an affront to democrats everywhere.

Fortunately for South Africa's voters and citizens, South Africa is indeed a democracy, in which the facts speak for themselves:

• The ANC has failed properly to deliver - however much the President wishes to overlook the evidence.
• The DA is a party of the future, which delivers to all wherever it is in government, and to a higher standard than the ANC.
• In a democracy, competition drives progress and improvement - this is the reason why the best results are to be found where the national opposition party governs, both in terms of service delivery and citizens’ satisfaction.
• If South Africa is to have a fighting chance at attaining a more prosperous future, with opportunities available to all, then it must deepen multiparty democracy in order to ensure that the voters continue to have a voice, and can exercise real choice when it comes to to selecting their party of government.

On 18 May 2011, it will be on this basis that the DA will continue to grow and govern in more places, as we continue to establish ourselves as the party of South Africa’s future.