Tzaneen deserves better, deserves DA delivery

Note to editors: This is the speech that was delivered by DA Parliamentary Leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko MP, today during a by-election campaign in Zangoma, ward 24, Greater Tzaneen.

Avuxeni va aka tiko va Zangoma, Minjhani

Colleagues and fellow liberal democrats:

Ni hloniphekile ku va ni ri na n'wina la Zangoma, ku seketela Maviz Mafumu, candidate ya DA eWard 24, laha Tzaneen

(I am honoured to be here today to support the DA candidate, Mavis Mafumu, for this important by-election in Ward 24 here in Tzaneen)

The DA takes by-elections very seriously because they give you the opportunity to ask for a change in direction between elections.

The DA knows that all politics is local-based. Local government is the closest level of government to the people. We do not view it as the poor relation of government, but the main driver of delivery.

This closeness means that your councilor is closest to the hopes and needs of the community. 

We are not only interested in winning the battle for votes, as important as that is, but we also want to win the battle of values. We want to construct a new model of local government delivery across South Africa.

Where the DA serves, we aim to build strong communities standing up for the weak, the sick, and the helpless. The mark of the good society is not the contentment of the privileged, wealthy and strong, but our commitment to the poor and weak.

It is significant that this by-election campaign coincides with the ‘knowYourDA' campaign; significant because the numbers look stacked against the DA. But in times past we have scored famous victories when the circumstances looked impossible.

We are undertaking the KnowYourDA campaign to communicate to the people of South Africa the role that the DA played in defeating apartheid.

Ours was a noble role of which we are rightly proud.

DA leader, Helen Zille acknowledged last weekend that, as a party, we have not been good at telling the DA story.

The time has come to start fearlessly telling the DA story because, in fact, not to do is to betray those whose shoulders we stand upon.

When the ugly edifice of apartheid was going up in the 1950's, liberals like Peter Brown and Alan Paton were meeting with the likes of Edgar Brookes in non-racial gatherings.

In the same period, after being elected for the first time in 1953, Helen Suzman used her position to break the apartheid mould in an undemocratic whites-only parliament.

In parliament, Mrs Suzman demonstrated courage of the rawest kind in curbing some of the worst excesses of the apartheid government with her razor-sharp tongue and relentless badgering of National Party politicians. 

Liberal's, often small in number in the past, fought apartheid's injustices with the valour of David against Goliath, and we are still doing so today. I recall this because politics was tough then and it is tough now.

Vhiki leri ANC yi hlanyisiwile hi xifaniso xa DA lexi a xi kombisa Khale ka President, Nelson Mandela a hakare Helen Suzman 

(The ANC this week were hopping mad because the DA put up a picture of Nelson Mandela embracing Helen Suzman.)

They hate it because it reminds them of inconvenient truths of what the DA has done in the past, and what it is doing today.

The DA's names spells out the kind of South Africa we seek.

The emphasis is on democracy and alliance. Sometimes, we have differences of opinion, but we are building a blue alliance of democrats from every race, creed, and walk of life in South Africa.

We believe that South Africa will not be the country it can be until we fix our schools so that every child gets a decent education, and everybody gets to participate in a non-racial economy. We have worked out how to do both.

Take the city of Cape Town.

Between 2006 and 2010, spending on free water, electricity and housing doubled from R385 million to R776 million. As a result, more Cape Town residents today, particularly the poorer citizens, have access to basic services than anywhere else in the country.

In 2010, the national government's Universal Household Access to Basic Services found that Cape Town delivered more basic services to the poor than any other district or metropolitan municipality in the country.

The same study found that 94% of poor households in Cape Town have access to sanitation; 95% have access to electricity; 98% have access to refuse removal and 100% have access to water.

And take the Midvaal municipality in Guateng.

When the DA took over the municipality in 2000, infrastructure under the ANC had crumbled. Trade and commerce were almost absent.

Since then the DA has rebuilt the municipality's infrastructure. Today Midvaal is a magnet for investment from BSI steel to Heineken to Ferrero Rocher. This investment represents billions of rand pumping into the local economy, transforming lives and communities.

None of this happened by accident. It took strong political leadership, and a capable administration. There is absolutely no reason in my view why the folk of Tazneen should not be able to enjoy the access to basic services and freedoms that the people of Cape Town, Midvaal and in many other DA-run municipalities enjoy.

And this is why that I am delighted to now formally introduce the DA candidate, Mavis Mafumu, who proudly stands for DA principles and ideals.

Mavis u tshame la Zangoma kusukela hi 1997, Mavis u na ntokoto wo tirhela rixaka hi ku tshembeka, u veka va aka tiko emahlweni

(Mavis has lived in the Zongama village since 1997, and she has strong community leadership roots and credentials )

She is standing for the DA because she wants a better life for this community. And that, in end, is what we are all striving for. 

Tzaneen I ndhawu ya kahle swinene, kambe a yi si fikelela laha a yi fanele yi ri koho hi mhaka ya Corruption ya tiKhanselara 

(Tazneen is a truly wonderful place, but it is not even coming close to achieving its potential)

While the municipality with its wealth of natural beauty and resources has tremendous potential for development, the poor performance of the trade sector has tended to show slow growth rates. With 80% of households residing in the rural villages, the municipality must prioritize rural policies to uplift these communities. 

With new leadership, so much more can and must be done.

A vote for yet another ANC councillor would be a wasted vote for the party that has consistently failed the Tzaneen municipality. You deserve better. Vote for change, for a better tomorrow.

We need every person who supports the DA to go out and vote. Each DA seat gained on the council is one step closer to a DA government. I also appeal to people who have never voted DA before to give us a chance to serve you.

You don't have to be a loyal DA supporter to vote DA. This is a local election. It is not about party loyalty. It is about whether or not you get the service you deserve.

Wherever the DA governs, we seek to provide every South African with the opportunity to be safe, stay healthy, get an education, get a job and get ahead.

So remember this: all of us share a desire for change. We are looking for more than just a change of ruling party; as welcome as that would be. We want to change the direction of South Africa.

Na mi kombela namuntlha, hi lombeni Vote ya n'wina, Vote ya n'wina yi ta endla ku ri DA na Mavis va mi tirhela hi vutshembeki ku sukela hi ravumune. DA yi lava ku cinca matirhelo ya van'wa tipolitiki

(So I ask you today: please lend us your vote, so that the DA can better serve you on Thursday. Together, let's change how we do politics in Tanzeen.)

I nkomu, Na Khensa.

Issued by the DA, April 20 2013

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