Note to Editors: The following speech was delivered today by the Leader of the Democratic Alliance, John Steenhuisen, during the DA’s largest-ever KZN rally at Curries Fountain Stadium in Durban.
Pictures are attached here, here, here, here, and here
The DA’s latest TV advert can be viewed here
Democrats,
There is no place I’d rather be this morning than right here with you at Curries Fountain, in my beautiful home province of KwaZulu-Natal!
As this election campaign has unfolded, KwaZulu-Natal has become a symbol of the most powerful force in the entire world.
Hope.
The Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal, is a source of hope.
More than any other province in this election, the people of this region are grasping the true power of hope and change with both hands.
Now, this is not to say that the people of KwaZulu-Natal are not aware of the many extreme problems this province faces.
Like all residents of KZN, we know that eThekwini is a disaster zone, with the taps running dry for weeks on end.
We know that Ugu hasn’t had a reliable supply of water for seven years.
We know that land reform is the responsibility of the national government.
And yet, nearly half of all outstanding land claims in the whole of South Africa, comes from KZN under the ANC.
We also know that the ANC itself, is a disaster.
They recently even handed out packets of beef-flavoured chips in Phoenix to try and buy votes, but it seems they forgot that this is a largely Tamil and Hindu community.
It just goes to show how out of touch the ANC truly is with the people, that they would insult a community like this.
Yes, the people of KwaZulu-Natal know that things are bad.
And they know that things could get even worse if we sit back and allow a Doomsday Coalition between the ANC and EFF to seize power.
After all, it was this province that experienced the pain of what such violence and chaos looks like, during the looting in 2021, for which not one instigator has been held to account.
We know all of these things.
But, because we have embraced the power of hope, the people of KwaZulu-Natal also know that it doesn’t have to be this way.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
This province is ready for a new way – for a better way, built upon hope.
And all of that starts on the 29th of May, when the people of KwaZulu-Natal will rise up as one to kick the failed ANC out of power.
Because the people of KZN know that hope is not the absence of fear.
Hope is the courage to overcome fear.
And that is exactly what the Democratic Alliance offers voters in this election, both in KZN and across the whole country.
The opportunity to be courageous, to embrace hope, and to defeat fear.
The reality is that the DA is the only party that understands what it takes to fix the problems in KZN, as we are already doing in uMngeni Municipality.
The DA is also the only party that has spoken honestly about the risk we face in this election, of a Doomsday Coalition between the ANC and EFF that will set our country on fire.
But, while we must be honest about the problems and risks we face, we will never, ever allow fear to paralyse us.
Instead, the problems our people face on a daily basis, only motivates the DA to fight even harder to rescue South Africa.
Unlike politicians who have long stopped caring, it breaks my heart whenever I see single mothers who are unable to feed their families because food is too expensive.
When I see unemployed graduates, standing in their gowns at traffic light, begging for food.
When I see children going to bed, hungry.
That is why the DA is the only party that is fighting to lower the cost of food, including baby formula, by expanding the number of food items that are exempt from VAT.
It is because we care, that the DA is the only party that will protect social grants from ANC corruption.
And it is because we care, that the DA will create two million new jobs and lift six million people out of poverty.
It is because we choose hope over fear, that the DA has already turned uMngeni into a beacon of hope for the whole province, and for the entire country.
And, in this election, the DA offers voters the opportunity to get the same man who turned rescued uMngeni as their new Premier in Chris Pappas – to rescue KZN!
Mayor Pappas and the DA already did in uMngeni, now we must do it in the whole KwaZulu-Natal!
My fellow South Africans,
For the first time in thirty years, the ANC is going to lose its majority, both nationally and here in KZN.
And they are not only going to lose – they are going to lose badly.
The ANC knows this, which is why Cyril Ramaphosa has started threatening to “invade” KwaZulu-Natal.
This is a shocking and unacceptable threat to the democratic rights of the people of this province.
It sounds like Ramaphosa is suggesting that he will mobilise violence against the people of KwaZulu-Natal when they throw the ANC on the trash heap of history, where it belongs.
But I’ve got news for him: a new government anchored by the DA will defend the people of KwaZulu-Natal from any attempt by the ANC to invade or punish this province.
This province is home to proud people, and it will not be bullied by a weak man who has spent the last five years hiding dollars in his couch while our country falls apart.
Whether Ramaphosa likes it or not, the collapse of the ANC has created an opportunity for change like we have never seen before in democratic South Africa.
We, the people, have the power to ensure that the change we experience after 29 May is the change we need to rescue South Africa, and to rescue KwaZulu-Natal!
It is because this province chooses hope over fear, that the DA has chosen to launch our next television advertisement right here with you, today.
Our latest advert shows how we can rescue South Africa from those who would burn its flag and its future, by uniting and standing as one.
Through cooperation with our partners in the Multi-Party Charter, the DA is perfectly positioned to form the anchor for a new government in KwaZulu-Natal.
By uniting the rational opposition under one umbrella, the Multi-Party Charter has given us a clear path to victory.
In fact, as the ANC, EFF and MK rip each other to pieces here in KZN, the DA is now in a position to do what was previously unthinkable.
If every single voter turns out to vote, the DA will emerge as the single biggest party in this province!
All we need now, is for the people of KZN to unite behind the DA.
Because, while all these other parties are busy splitting each other’s vote, a strong DA can rescue KwaZulu-Natal.
And let me tell you: many people never gave the DA any chance of winning uMngeni.
They said: never in a million years would Chris Pappas be the mayor that rescues uMngeni.
But guess what?
We won uMngeni with an outright majority in 2021, because voters there united behind the DA and refused to split the vote.
On the 29th of May, we’re going to do it all over again, but this time on an even bigger scale.
Just like we did when they said we couldn’t win uMngeni, the DA, together without our partners in the Multi-Party Charter, is going to win KwaZulu-Natal!
And, just like they said that Chris Pappas would never be mayor, we are now going to make sure that Chris Pappas is the next Premier of KwaZulu-Natal!
Democrats,
For thirty long years, we have fought a valiant fight in opposition to prevent the worst from happening to our beloved country.
But now, we are just three weeks away from making history.
On the 29th of May, we are going to rewrite the history books by defeating the ANC and inaugurating a new government anchored by the DA!
For the first time ever, victory beckons for the Democratic Alliance.
United with our partners in the Multi-Party Charter, we can win KwaZulu-Natal!
I am calling on every single voter who wants to liberate this beautiful province from corruption and mismanagement, to answer the call of history.
The moment of truth for every Democrat, has arrived.
Be part of history, so that you can tell your grandchildren one day that you helped to rescue South Africa from the ANC.
As we enter the final stage of this historic campaign, we must now go out and share the good news with the people of South Africa.
That united behind the DA, we can win!
That we can rescue Kwa-Zulu-Natal!
And that, together, our strong DA will rescue South Africa!
Thank you.