Yes we’ve made progress, but it’s not enough

9 June 2016

You will have often heard my DA colleagues and I speak about the progress made in the areas where the DA governs. And over the next 55 days, as we build up to the local government elections, you will hear us say it again and again.

Because it is true: Where the DA governs, people are better off. Where the DA governs, there is higher access to basic services and there are more work opportunities. The DA doesn’t tolerate corruption, and we don’t waste public money.

So yes, we have made more progress in places like Cape Town and Midvaal in Gauteng than the ANC has managed where they govern. But that is not what I want to talk about today.

Today I want to say, as clearly as I possibly can, that all this progress under a DA government is still not enough. I am still not satisfied with what we have achieved, and I will not rest until we, as a party, do better.

This location where we’re standing now was chosen specifically to demonstrate this point. Because on the one side you see progress in the way of built houses and services, but on the other side you see a stark reminder of the work we still need to do.

This is what the legacy of Apartheid looks like. This is what Apartheid spacial planning looks like. And this is where we must focus all of our attention. I will not stop beating this drum until we, as a party, can honestly say we have improved the lives of each and every person living in a DA-run city or town.

But we won’t stop with Cape Town and the other areas where we govern. Because in hundreds of communities like this across the length and breadth of South Africa, the face of poverty is still black.

We must, and we will, take this fight wherever Apartheid’s legacy of inequality still haunts poor, black communities.

Because of this legacy, a black child is still 100 times more likely than a white child to grow up in poverty.

Because of this legacy, white learners are six times more likely to get into university than black learners.

Because of this legacy, the unemployment level of young black South Africans is well over 60%.

And this is what we must fight to eradicate every single day. This is my promise to you here Nyanga today, and this is my promise to each and every South African across the country. 

Last night our new TV ad – the 2nd one in our election campaign – was aired on several TV channels. In the ad we make this promise to increase our own efforts and speed up the change where we govern.

That is my promise to South Africans, both where the DA currently governs, and where we will govern after August the 3rd. We will not stop working until we have delivered Freedom, Fairness and Opportunity to all the people living in DA-run municipalities.

I want you to hold me to this promise. Because I certainly will be holding my party to it. 

But my commitment to progress doesn’t end there. It also includes transforming the party to reflect more closely the diversity of the voters we represent.

In the course of this election campaign I have visited many communities located far from the DA’s traditional strongholds. And it is hugely encouraging to see how both our membership and our activist numbers are growing rapidly in these areas.

I am also pleased to announce that, for the first time, the DA has a candidate in every single ward in South Africa for the upcoming elections, the vast majority of whom are black. As our party transforms on the ground, it will also ultimately transform at all levels of our structures.

The DA is the future government of South Africa, and it is important that we act like a government-in waiting.

Let our detractors say what they will. Let them make up their desperate racial narratives around the DA. We will silence them through our actions when we bring the change that moves communities like this forward.

Issued by Mabine Seabe, Spokesperson to the DA Leader, 9 June 2016