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Date : 04/04/2004
Source: Democratic Alliance
Title: T Leon: Stand up and build a new majority


Introduction

My friends,
There are only ten days left until Election Day.

And so now is the time for us to stand up for a better South Africa.

Now is the time for us to stand up for a free and prosperous KwaZulu-Natal.

Now is the time for us to stand up for the DA and the IFP in the Coalition for Change.

Together, the DA and the IFP are turning KwaZulu-Natal into a South African success story.

We brought anti-retroviral drugs to the people;
we provided new housing for thousands of families;
and we recovered millions of rands that the ANC wasted on corrupt schemes.

Together, the Coalition for Change will save KwaZulu-Natal from the dead hand of ANC control.

Together, we will save South Africa from becoming a one-party state.

The Coalition for Change

Now is "the time in which the friends of democracy must come together".

These were the strong words of Premier Lionel Mtshali, in the days when the ANC tried and failed to take control of this province.

His words are even more relevant today, when the ANC is trying to take over every last outpost of freedom in South Africa.

Now is the time for "a genuine revolution of goodwill".

Those were the great words spoken by Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi, on the day in 2002 that the DA and the IFP first stood together here in Durban.

I am proud to be working together with these leaders. Because the cooperation between the DA and the IFP has been a great success for the people of KwaZulu-Natal.

Our Coalition for Change has succeeded because it is based on shared principles. It is not a partnership that ends on Election Day. For us, this election is only the beginning.

The DA and the IFP are working together over the long term to build the core of an alternative government to the ANC. Together, we will build a new political force that will take power-in KwaZulu-Natal today, and in all of South Africa tomorrow.

The South Africa we believe in is a big country. Big in size. Big in spirit. Big in character. A country in which there is room for all.

A big country deserves a better government. A big country deserves a better alternative. A big country like South Africa deserves a better future.

And the Coalition for Change is building that alternative, so that we can deliver that future.

Our path to Durban

KwaZulu-Natal is the flagship of the Coalition for Change. It is here that we are setting the example for the nation.

We have taken our campaign to every corner of this great province. It has been one of the key areas for the DA in this election.

In January, I visited schools in Clermont and in Westville to highlight some of the problems facing schools in South Africa today.

In February, the DA came right here, to Durban, to launch our national candidates list. We also went to Pietermaritzburg to launch the DAs manifesto for KwaZulu-Natal. And we visited Phoenix, where I addressed a rally of 5 000 people who had gathered to listen to our message of hope.

In March, the DA and the IFP travelled to the rural areas of this province. We spoke together in St Faiths, where we launched a new housing project that will be the first to build government-subsidised houses on traditional land.

Later, I travelled to the coal towns of the northwest, and spoke in Newcastle about the DAs vision for empowerment and equality. And I went to Manguzi, on the Mozambican border, to visit a hospital where doctors are paying for anti-retroviral drugs out of their own pockets because the ANC national government wont help them.

Just two days ago, I visited the South Coast town of Port Shepstone to describe our policies for economic growth and job creation. Yesterday, I walked among the people of Chatsworth and highlighted all of the ways in which the DA is involved in contributing to the community.

Today, the Coalition for Change has returned to Durban. We are here because Durban has an important lesson to teach us.

That lesson is this: each and every vote counts.

Remember that in December 2000, the race for eThekwini Municipality was neck-and-neck. The ANC got less than a majority, 47,5%. The DA and the IFP together got 44%. Thats how close it was.

The Coalition for Change can win. We can take power in KwaZulu-Natal and continue our service to the people.

But we need each and every DA and IFP supporter to turn out and vote. Each and every person must make their mark.

The clear choice

Let us be clear: there is no room for sitting on the fence in this election. The people of KwaZulu-Natal face a clear choice.

This province can be a prisoner of the ANC party machine. Or it can be strong and free-governed by the Coalition for Change.

I see that the ANC is now saying: "Only the ANC can deliver".

Let me tell you what the ANC has delivered:

eight million people without jobs;
22,5 million people living in poverty;
a quarter of a million people murdered in the last decade;
five to seven million people infected with HIV, and as many as one million dead already.

Now, let me tell you what the DA wants to deliver:

one million real jobs in the next five years;
free Aids drugs to all who need them;
a basic income grant of R110 per person per month;
150 000 new police officers on the street, fully trained and equipped.

These are solutions that South Africa can afford.

These are solutions that work.

And there is more. The Coalition for Change will stand up for democracy and human rights. We will stand up against a one-party state.

The ANC wants a two-thirds majority in Parliament. But more than two-thirds of South Africans-68 percent-already say the ANC has too much power, according to a recent survey.

The same survey shows:

55 percent of South Africans disapprove of the way President Thabo Mbeki and the ANC are handling HIV/Aids;
56 percent say that the ANC is failing on Zimbabwe;
74 percent say that the ANC is failing on crime;
and a staggering 85 percent of South Africans say that the President and the ANC are failing on job creation and unemployment.

It is clear that people of South Africa want real change. That is why the Coalition for Change is so important.

The intolerance of the ANC

Lately, President Mbeki is going around accusing the IFP of intolerance.

He is nothing other than a ruthless hypocrite.

Certainly, we condemn any form of intolerance or intimidation or undemocratic practices-whether they are DA practices, IFP practices, or ANC practices.

But the truth is that the ANC is the most intolerant party in South Africa.

In this election, my party and I have been on the receiving end of ANC abuse and disruption over and over again.

On Tuesday, the ANC tried to drown out a DA rally in Port Elizabeth by playing loud music. They also tried to disrupt a speech by DA National Chairperson Joe Seremane in Mzamomhle, near East London.

The situation has become so bad that the DA has taken the ANC to the Independent Electoral Commission, which will hand down a decision soon.

Everywhere we went in the Eastern Cape last week, we met people who were told by the ANC that if they didnt vote for the ruling party, they would lose their pensions.

The same thing happened in the Northern Cape.

In De Aar, in Noupoort, in Colesburg, and indeed in Kimberley itself, the people complained that the ANC had been threatening them if they dared vote for the DA.

So let me say this to President Mbeki: Sir, you and your party are in no position to make false accusations, to bear false witness, or to paint yourselves in the colours of democratic fairness and tolerance, which truly do not belong to you.

The people do not trust Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang And let me say this to the Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang:

Anti-retroviral drugs are not toxic. They can save lives.

That is why the DA and the IFP have led the way in giving anti-retroviral medicines to the people.

The people will judge you, Honourable Minister.
They will judge you by your foolish words. But even more, they will judge you by your actions-and by your omissions, by your failure to act.

The people will judge you for your wilful negligence, for leading South Africa on one long Aids death march.

You say it is racist to give people anti-retroviral drugs. But you are wrong. It is racist not to give the people anti-retroviral drugs when millions are infected with HIV and the vast majority of them are black.

You, Honourable Minister, are the greatest enemy of black people and all people living with HIV/Aids in this country.

You, Honourable Minister, do not belong in a democratic government. You belong in the Apartheid Museum.

You could have saved hundreds of thousands of people in the last five years. But you let them die. And you were sanctioned in so doing by President Mbeki.

You could have saved young role models like DJ Khabzela. But you sent him your nutrition specialist, who encouraged him to stay away from anti-retroviral drugs. And he died.

The people do not trust you, Honourable Minister.

The people do not trust your deputy, Renier Schoemann.

The people do not trust health MEC Zweli Mkhize.

The people do not trust the ANC or the NNP, period.

But the people do trust the Coalition for Change. Because only the DA and the IFP. have a proven track record of giving anti-Aids drugs to the people.

Only the Coalition for Change has a proven track record of saving lives. And that is why we must win in KwaZulu-Natal, so that we can expand our efforts to bring free anti-Aids drugs to all the people that need them.

Building a new majority

My friends,
The Coalition for Change is not just campaigning for today. We are laying the foundation for the future-for a new majority in KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa.

Make no mistake: a vote for any party other than the DA or the IFP is a vote for the ANC.

There are a few political desperados who have given up on democracy. They have given up on creating change. They are just trying to create positions for themselves.

Some of them say that we must work with the majority. That is absolutely true and correct. But they have lost sight of the real majority. The real majority wants the ANC to have less power, not more.

The role of leaders is to lead. And that is what the DA and the IFP are doing.

Through the Coalition for Change, we are creating a new majority-one that is ready to govern.

We are going to give our democracy the best 10th birthday present it could possibly hope for: we are going to give the people of South Africa a real choice, and hope for real change.

The ANC promises you more of the same-the same corruption, the same failures.

But the Coalition for Change says: let us build a better South Africa. Let us make the central government smaller and the people bigger. Let us try new ideas and new solutions. Let us make South Africa a winning nation.

Our Coalition for Change sends a clear message of hope to the people of our country: hope for an end to one-party domination;
hope for a more prosperous and peaceful future-for all the people of our great land.

We dont just want to bring power to the people. We want to bring the people into power.

In your hands lies the power to take KwaZulu-Natal-and, with it, South Africa-on a new course. You can make things change!
Now is the time to stand up!
Stand up for a united national opposition!
Stand up for a new majority!
Stand up for KwaZulu-Natal!
Stand up for a better South Africa!
Stand up for the Coalition for Change!
Stand up for victory!

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