POLITICS

We can believe again - Mmusi Maimane

Speech at the launch of the campaign for nomination as Gauteng DA Premier candidate

We can believe again

Note to Editors: This is an extract of the speech that was delivered in Alexandra today by Mmusi Maimane, at the official launch of his candidacy for Gauteng DA Premier Candidate.

Ladies and Gentlemen, fellow Democrats,

With great humility, and a sense of great responsibility, I accept your nomination for Gauteng Premier.

To my friends Stevens Mokgalapa and Solly Msimanga: I want to express profound gratitude for placing your trust in me with this nomination. I also want to give special thanks to my friend Paul Willemburg - and who has already expressed his support. I am humbled by the responsibility you have given me. 

I am humbled, because 20 years ago, no one would have said it would be possible for me to stand here today. They would have said it was impossible.

They would have said it was impossible, because I am a young black man.

They would have said it was impossible, because I am from Soweto.

They would have said it was impossible, because I am the son of a migrant worker father from North West and a migrant worker mother from the Eastern Cape.

But the DA is here to say that what once seemed impossible - can become a reality. It is possible for each and every South African to reach for their dreams, and live the lives they want to.

It is possible for me stand here today because my parents - through great personal sacrifice - got me a decent education. I am here, because they sacrificed for me, so that I could get an education, and a job, and the life they never had.

Their story is South Africa's story. It is a story of oppression, denied opportunities and segregation. Yet through it all they dreamed for a better life for me. They never stopped believing in a better future.

The freedom that came in 1994 was a new dawn for them, just like it was for our country. It was the beginning of our better future. It gave us the right to believe in ourselves, and in each other, for a better, shared future.

Black people finally had hope for a share in this country's wealth. We were filled with optimism that we would live and work with dignity. We believed that we would have a better life. We believed we would own our own houses, we believed we would be able to provide a better life for our children - with decent education and health care. We believed we would finally live in safety and with dignity.

That is what my parents struggled for in their own lives. And that is what our country struggled for - for a better life for all.

And for some years we made real progress. Our nation's dream was slowly coming true. Under President Mandela and President Mbeki, we made slow progress towards our goals. We believed - and slowly started seeing - how our economy became more integrated. We had a sense that people would be able to find work, that workers would work in good conditions, and that we all had a chance at success - black, white, coloured, Indian - all working for a better future, together.

Everyone lived for making that dream a reality.

We started showing moments of greatness. We all remember the world cups we hosted -the Rugby World Cup in 1995, the Cricket World Cup in 2002 and the Soccer World Cup in 2010. We saw that we could be a winning nation, where everyone shared in the progress.

We believed in our better future.

But somewhere towards the end of President Mbeki's time, some things have started going wrong. Many people have stopped believing in our dream.

They stop believing, because President Zuma spends R240 million on his house, instead of building houses for South Africans.

They stop believing, because our police take bribes while women and children are being raped.

They stop believing because the people in government care more about enriching themselves and their families than helping the people.

They stop believing because we are no longer addressing the economic legacy of apartheid. More South Africans are unemployed than ever before. The difference between the rich and the poor is bigger than ever before.

They stop believing because they see corruption everywhere in government.

People have stopped believing, and lost hope, because we are moving in the wrong direction. There are fewer jobs because President Zuma governs only for himself and his friends and family. As government becomes more corrupt, poor people are becoming poorer.

Corruption is shattering our dreams and killing our people's belief in a better future.

The DA is here to say that we can believe again. I accepted your nomination, because I want to make Gauteng believe again. To make Gauteng believe that everyone can have a chance at success.

The 2014 election will be an historic moment. It is an opportunity for us to put Gauteng back on track. It is a chance for us to restore everyone's belief in the dream of 1994.

What I want to do in Gauteng is simple: I want to stop corruption, stop e-tolls and create many more jobs. If we do that, we will start to make life better for the people of Gauteng. We will take the struggle for a better life forward. We will restore people's belief in our future.

So I want to make 6 pledges to you and to the people of Gauteng:

Firstly, I will use every means at my disposal to fight e-tolls, to the very end. I will do everything in my power to stop it. I will focus on this, because e-tolls will make poor South Africans poorer. It will make taxi fares more expensive, it will make it more difficult to get to a job and back. It will push up the price of basic necessities like bread and gas. E-tolls is not the way to pay for our infrastructure. The DA believes it is possible to pay for world class infrastructure, without making the poor poorer.

Secondly, I will make it easier to start a small business. Small businesses are the solution to our unemployment crisis. If we make it easier for small businesses, young people can create opportunity for themselves, or find work easier as more small businesses grow. I will also work to make sure that small businesses and businesses owned by previously disadvantaged individuals get preferential treatment when tendering for government business in Gauteng. We will use government to empower small businesses, especially those owned by black, coloured and Indian people.

We must get businesses to grow, so they can hire more people and create more jobs. We must make it easier for our taxi owners, our plumbers, our electricians, our spaza shop owners to do business successfully, and hire more people.

We are here at Bellaskie Lounge - an excellent example of small business success. I congratulate Mr Ernest Mkhwanzi for starting this venture. We want to help people like Mr Mkhwanazi expand his business and hire more people to create more jobs.

Thirdly, I will not tolerate corruption of any kind in this province. Corrupt officials will be fired. Corrupt politicians will be removed. The people's money will be recovered where possible. We will spend money to fix education, fix health care, build better infrastructure and create more jobs - we will make sure that government money goes to making life better for everyone, and not just to enriching a few connected individuals.

Fourthly, I will ensure that we deliver textbooks to every school in this province. South Africans need an education system they can rely on - an education system that does not discriminate. We need an education system that is fair to everyone, that gives everyone a fair chance -whether you grow up in a wealthy suburb or in Alex or Dobsonville. In this campaign, I will propose that we do away with the feeder system, but rather seek to give people a choice so that they can choose where their children are educated and that we equip principals to run institutions that ultimately deliver excellent education across the board.

If we do not fix our education system now, we will reproduce the apartheid framework for yet another generation. If we do not fix this now, black children will grow up with less education than white children. I believe we can fix this, and restore hope in everyone's chance to share in this country's wealth.

Fifthly, I will implement a provincial youth wage subsidy in Gauteng, just like Helen Zille has in the Western Cape. It will create jobs for thousands of young people, to help them access their first jobs, and gain that vital experience necessary to build a career. I commit myself to being a premier that helps our young people find work.

It is what I work and live for, because I have experienced what it is to be a young person looking for work.

Finally, I commit absolutely to the implementation of BBBEE and Affirmative Action policies in this province that will help the masses. For too long, these policies have only helped to enrich a connected few. I will use these policies to make sure we give the training, ownership and jobs to people in the black, coloured and Indian communities who need it most. Political elites will not get free handouts in this province if I am elected Premier.

Our mission, my mission and the mission of the Democratic Alliance, is to break down the apartheid pattern of work and ownership in our economy. It is our greatest mission. Black people are still more likely to be unemployed, poor and poorly educated. The economic injustice of apartheid lives on. We must fix this.

It is my mission to break down that injustice, by giving everyone in this province - black, white, coloured, Indian, male, female, gay, straight, people of all religions - everyone - a chance at success in life.

That means everyone must get good education.

Everyone must get good health care.

BEE and affirmative action must be implemented to help the poor, and not the elite.

We need many, many more jobs.

And we need to stop corruption.

That is my mission. To continue the struggle for a better life for all, and restore people's belief in a better future.

You know, I am a father of 2 children. All I want for them is opportunity. I want them to only know apartheid through literature - and not through their surroundings or the behavior of others. I want them to be judged by the content of their character, and not the colour of their skin. I want my daughter to walk streets one day and know that she doesn't face the threat of rape or violence against her. I want my son to live in a truly liberated South Africa, where he can be confident in the quality of his education, confident that this land offers him opportunities for success. I want all our children to grow up and know the digital world.

I am humbled by the faith you have placed in me with this nomination. These are not small tasks I have laid out, but the success of country depends on them. It is a grave responsibility, and I will take it up with my entire being.

I will use all the skills I have learnt in social service, in the business world, whilst lecturing, as a Caucus Leader, as the party's Deputy Chairperson and as National Spokesperson, to achieve these goals, and deliver a better life.

I want to conclude by saying that this journey will not be easy. As I speak here, our opponents are already planning their smears against us. They will tell people that we will bring back apartheid. They will tell people we want to take away their grants. They will tell people we do not represent all South Africans.

I say to you here today that I will never allow these lies to go unanswered in this election campaign. Not this time. Not in this election. South Africa has come too far to be divided by petty lies and the politics of fear. I will stand up to every attack, and set the record straight: We are the party to take the struggle for a better life forward.

Let's believe again that South Africa can be a great nation.

Let's believe again that every South African can share in the wealth of this country.

Let's believe in one another, from all races and religions.

Let's believe again that we can work together to make life better for everyone.

Let's believe again that we can undo the damage of apartheid.

Let's give rise to a new democratic system that can deliver a better future for every South African. 

We can do that in this election. WE CAN WIN. We can restore belief in our future.

When we believe we can transcend our challenges, we can focus our nation on a better tomorrow. That tomorrow is shared, inclusive and breaks down our barriers.

Let's do it and let freedom reign, once again.

Issued by Mmusi Maimane, July 31 2013

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter