Note to Editors: The following speech was delivered by DA Leader, Geordin Hill-Lewis, at the launch of Khathutshelo Rasilingwane’s Election Pledges to the people of Ekurhuleni.
Pictures are attached here and here.
English and Afrikaans voicenotes are attached.
Good morning, Ekurhuleni!
It is wonderful to be here in the industrial heartland of Gauteng, in a city that should be the engine room of jobs, investment, opportunity and hope for South Africa.
And it is a great honour to stand here today to support a woman of great courage, conviction and deep love for this city: Khathu Rasilingwane, the Democratic Alliance’s candidate for Mayor of Ekurhuleni.
Today is not just the launch of campaign pledges.
Today is a promise.
A promise to the residents of Ekurhuleni that change is possible.
A promise that residents do not have to accept the endemic rot and corruption that has ruined this city.
We thought we could not be shocked in South Africa anymore. But every day there are more and more revelations about how everything in Ekurhuleni is corrupted.
And I mean every single thing. Not a single thing is untainted by the stench of corruption.
State Capture never ended in Ekurhuleni.
In fact, Ekurhuleni is now the epicentre of what is known as the Gangster State.
Where every contract, every service, every thing is corrupted, so that politicians and senior officials can steal millions and millions out of the city. And their corruption is protected by gangsters who will murder to keep it quiet.
They will use intimidation and violence, and murder, anything it takes, to keep from being exposed.
What the residents see are the symptoms of this Corrupt Gangster City – broken roads, broken substations, broken water systems, broken finances and broken trust.
When things are this bad, you need some strong medicine.
You need a leader who is firmly committed to restoring honesty.
Who is resolute about ripping out corruption.
Who will stop at nothing to build a professional, honest, ethical city government.
We have such a leader in Khathu Rasilingwane!
And she has a team who is just as committed as she is.
Together, Khathu and the DA in government in this city can restore hope that Ekurhuleni can work.
And when Ekurhuleni works, people work. Families work. Businesses work. Communities work. South Africa works.
That is the DA’s message to this city and to this country.
South Africa can work — for everyone.
Across our country, too many people have given up hope. They look at unemployment, crime, corruption, load-shedding, failing municipalities, collapsing infrastructure, and they ask: “Will anything ever change?”
Our answer is: yes.
Things can change.
They have changed where the DA governs.
And they can change here in Ekurhuleni too.
In Cape Town, in the Western Cape, in Midvaal, in Umgeni, we have shown that a government can be clean. We have shown that public money can be protected. We have shown that services can improve, investment can grow, infrastructure can be built, and more people can be helped into work.
Where the DA governs we are honest about problems, and we get to work fixing them.
That is the DA difference.
And that is what Khathu Rasilingwane will bring to Ekurhuleni.
Khathu knows this city. She knows its people. She knows what it means to be forgotten by government. She knows what it means for a family to wait for services that never come.
She knows that dignity is not a slogan. Dignity is a working tap. A safe street. A light that switches on. A road without potholes. A municipality that answers when residents call.
That is why this campaign matters.
It is about the young person in Tembisa, Katlehong, Benoni, Boksburg, Kempton Park, Germiston or Edenvale who wants a job, not another excuse.
It is about every resident who says: “I love this city, but this city deserves better.”
And you are right.
Ekurhuleni deserves better.
South Africa today faces a choice between two visions.
On one side is the failed vision of the ANC, the EFF and MK: more state control, more corruption, more cadre deployment, more racial division, more reckless spending, more hostility to business, and more empty promises.
That vision has already been tested.
It has given us unemployment. It has given us failing municipalities. It has given us corruption.
On the other side is the DA’s vision: a growing economy, honest government, safe communities, quality services, infrastructure that works, and a state that helps people to build their own future.
We believe government must create the conditions for jobs.
We believe investment must be welcomed, not chased away.
We believe small businesses must be supported, not strangled.
We believe that wherever you find corruption you must rip it out like a weed.
We believe public money belongs to the public, not to connected cadres.
That is why people are uniting behind the DA.
The DA is the only party in South African history that has won a 100% black ward, a 100% white ward, a 100% coloured ward and a 100% Indian ward.
That tells us that the DA is without doubt the most diverse party in South Africa. We are for all the people.
And it tells us that South Africans are tired of being divided.
It tells us that people want delivery.
It tells us that voters are asking, “Who can fix my community?”
And the answer, more and more, is the DA.
Just last week, in Emfuleni, the people of Evaton made history.
In a ward the ANC once thought it owned, voters chose the DA. They chose Maki Tshabalala. They chose change. They chose a government that works.
And let me say this clearly: what happened in Emfuleni can happen in Ekurhuleni.
But it will not happen by accident.
It will happen because people register.
It will happen because people vote.
It will happen because people speak to their families, their neighbours, their colleagues, their churches, their sports clubs and their communities.
So today I am asking you: check that you are registered. Make sure your family is registered. Make sure your friends are registered. Make sure every young person who wants a future is registered.
And in November, lend your vote to the DA.
You may have voted differently before. That is okay.
You may still be deciding. That is your right.
But I am asking you to consider what is best for the future of your family. Look where the DA governs. Look at what happens when clean government replaces corruption. Look at what happens when capable people are appointed.
Lend your vote to the DA, and we will not disappoint you.
That is what Khathu has already shown in Ekurhuleni. She has stood up against corruption. She has challenged bad governance. She has spoken for residents who are tired of excuses.
Now she is ready to lead.
Friends,
Ekurhuleni can carry on being the centre of the gangster state in South Africa. A city of massive looting, corrupt cadres, potholes, outages, corruption and decline.
Or it can be a city of factories, small businesses, safe streets, working services and growing opportunity.
That choice is in your hands.
This November, vote for hope.
Vote for clean government.
Vote for an Ekurhuleni that works for all.
Vote for Khathu Rasilingwane.
Vote DA.