The following speech was delivered by DA Leader Geordin Hill-Lewis at the party’s National Final Rally. The rally and speech can be watched here
Please see photos here, here, here, here and here.
Mamelodi! Tshwane! Pretoria!
Dumelang!
Sanbonani!
Le kae?
Four days.
Four days until millions of South Africans take the future of our beautiful country into their own hands.
Four days until we can choose five years of building, of fixing, of progress, of getting our country moving.
Tshwane, are you ready?
Because I am ready.
The DA is ready.
And together, we are going to win and turn this country around.
Friends,
Today, from our capital, hier in die Jakarandastad, I want to speak to everyone who loves South Africa and knows that we can do better.
To the millions who desperately need a change of government.
And to the millions who already live where the DA governs, who have seen progress and want to keep it going.
We all share one ambition.
To build a country where hard work gives you a chance,
Where your children are safe, and where tomorrow holds more promise than yesterday.
That is what this election is about.
Today I am asking South Africans to do something historic: use this election to make the DA the biggest party in the country!
The ANC’s decline must become South Africa’s recovery.
Let Wednesday be a day that gives hope to millions of people.
Let Wednesday be a day to show everyone that our country can still work.
Let Wednesday be a day when we say together that our future can be better.
On the 4th of November, give the DA the mandate to start that positive change in more towns and cities than ever before.
We are within reach of overtaking the ANC nationally. I know it’s a stretch, but with your support it is possible.
And we are leading in major cities where people have waited far too long for change.
This is a two-horse race for first place in South Africa. The ANC or the DA.
And we are going for first place, because we know that’s what’s needed to fix our country.
But this can only happen if every person who wants change shows up to vote for change.
We can win this. And we must finish the job!
Too often the ANC has found a way back into office through deals with smaller parties.
When you vote for change, you deserve to get actual change.
Only the DA is big enough to lead the change our country needs.
And I want you to understand what that ambition represents.
It represents the DA’s belief that South Africa can be a country where every child has an opportunity, where hard work is rewarded, where corruption is never tolerated, where communities are safe, and where government delivers for the people it serves.
That is the future we want to build.
That is the hope we offer South Africa.
And that is the responsibility we are asking South Africans to entrust to us.
So let us unite our votes behind the DA, the only party that can get governments working.
The only party that has shown how it can be done.
Give us the strength to appoint competent people, to tackle corruption, to repair infrastructure and fix services.
And to those who already have a DA government I say to you your vote matters more than ever.
Because progress takes years to build.
It can be destroyed quickly.
We must keep the work going. And we must keep building on what has been achieved.
By showing up on election day you can help us make that progress possible for millions more South Africans.
I want us to turn the places that work into a country that works.
A country where we as parents can look our children in the eye and say, with confidence: you can build your future here.
Ngoku, mandithethe ngqo namakhulu amawaka abantu baseMzantsi Afrika.
Now I want to speak to those who have never voted for us before, but who are planning on voting DA this Wednesday.
To them I want to say, we will not take lightly the decision you are making to vote for a better future.
There are those who say the DA is only for one race.
Do not believe them. They are liars.
There is one belief, one commitment that guides me, and it is this: that every child – no matter their race, no matter if they are rich or poor, no matter where in South Africa they are born – every single child deserves the opportunity to life a good life. And that is why, where I have governed, I have put that belief into action.
Where I am the Mayor, I have worked every day to improve the dignity and services of the poorest residents in our city, and lift more people out of poverty.
We have done more to improve basic infrastructure than all three of the Gauteng metros combined.
One out of every two new jobs in South Africa’s cities were created just in the only DA governed metro.
We have built more homes than anywhere else in the country, and more than double the next best metro.
And we’ve made sure that every child in the township or on the Cape Flats has a beautiful public swimming pool to play in, in the summer heat.
You see, we love dignity, we love serving everyone, we care for every person, and we always will.
So anyone who says the DA is for one group of South Africans and against another group is wrong. And we prove them wrong every day. We are for all. For every single South African.
To black South Africans, to coloured South Africans, to white and Indian South Africans: we are a party for all.
And we always will be.
That is the South Africa I believe in.
The DA is now the only party in South Africa that is truly for all the people.
And we are also the only party that is present in every single community across the country.
Now I want to speak directly to the thousands of DA candidates.
The people of South Africa are placing their hopes in your hands.
Go be their champions.
Be on the ground. Answer the phone. Follow up until something is done.
Tell people the truth, even when the answer is difficult.
When the posters come down, your duty to the people remains.
We must earn tomorrow’s trust through today’s work.
That is the standard I will expect of every DA government.
And it is the standard you must expect of me.
My fellow South Africans,
Die DA is gereed om hierdie land vorentoe te neem!
A South Africa where we build on success until more and more people can share in it.
That future can begin on Wednesday.
Let us make this election the beginning of a journey to a DA-led national government in 2029.
We will earn the trust to lead our country by showing, town by town and city by city, what a government that serves its people can achieve.
So, for these final four days, carry this message into every street.
Call the people you love. Speak to your neighbours.
Make your plan to vote, and help someone else make theirs.
Take the hope you feel here today all the way to the ballot box.
Let us fill those voting stations. Let us turn out in record numbers. Let us make every vote count!
On Wednesday, let the ANC’s decline become South Africa’s recovery.
The first step towards a DA-led national government in 2029!
We have four days to choose change.
Five years to show what South Africa can become.
For every family waiting for better.
For every community determined to move forward.
For the country we love, and the children who will inherit it.
On 4 November, VOTE DA!
So South Africa can work for everyone!