Date: 15/04/2011
Source: The Democratic Alliance
Title: DA: Zille: Address by the leader of the DA, to the people of Mangosuthu Village, Mpumalanga



Fellow South Africans,

It is wonderful to be here in Mangosuthu Village in the Mkhondo municipality in Mpumalanga.

This is a very special place for the Democratic Alliance. In the by-election last year we increased our share of the vote from 8.7% in 2006 to 36%. 

In the ‘Moving Church’ voting district, more people voted for the DA than any other party. We got 53% of the vote to the ANC’s 41%. As you know, there is not a single minority voter living in that district.

That was the moment that made South Africa sit up and take notice of what the DA is capable of. Now, nobody can say – with a straight face – that the DA is a white party, or a party for minorities only.

We are a party for all the people. We are winning elections in more and more places. We are winning in traditional ANC strongholds. We are growing everywhere.

And why? Because we deliver for all.

That is the secret of our success. It is not complicated. It is about getting the basics of government right and improving people’s lives over time. 

More and more people can see that life is better where the DA governs. Things may not be perfect, but they are moving in the right direction – step by step. And so more and more people are lending us their vote so we can apply our governing formula where they live.

If it is so easy, you have to wonder why the ANC don’t just copy us. Because, if they did, they might stop losing votes.

But the truth is that the ANC can’t do what the DA is doing. The ANC is too divided to get even the basics of government right. The internal competition over positions, jobs and tenders is too fierce.

That is why the ANC cannot deliver basic services where it governs. The councillors are too busy dividing up the spoils of office to think about delivery. They are too busy fighting their internal battles to worry about the people they are supposed to serve.

It is because of its internal divisions that the ANC has hardly been campaigning in this election. It structures are more interested in fighting with each other about who the candidates are to worry about the voters.

Don’t just take my word for it. Zwelinzima Vavi has already warned the ANC that if it doesn’t get its act together, the DA will win power soon.

And the Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe, has already conceded that the ANC is too weak and divided to win back Cape Town from the DA.

The ANC reminds me of two big dogs fighting over a bone. They are so busy fighting each other that they forget about the bone. And, while they are busy fighting, another dog comes along and takes the bone away from them. 

That is what is happening all over the country. The DA is winning power from the ANC in more and more places.

This is good for democracy. It is good for delivery. And it is good for you.

In the Western Cape, where the DA is in provincial government and governs most municipalities, more poor people get free basic services like water, electricity, sanitation and waste removal than anywhere else. 

In Gauteng, the municipality with the lowest unemployment rate and the highest quality of life, is the DA-governed Midvaal municipality.

In the Eastern Cape, we govern the small municipality of Baviaans. Every poor resident there qualifies for free basic services under the municipality’s indigent policy. Since the DA has been in government, we have completely eradicated the bucket system in Baviaans.

That is the DA difference. You can have it here too.

So, whatever you do, make sure you go out and vote on 18 May.

And vote DA.

Because the DA delivers for all!