‘Long Live South Africa, ANC Is Dead!’ – Read The Maimane Speech Everyone Is Talking About

The leader of the
Democratic Alliance (DA)
party, Mmusi Maimane
delivered the speech which
centered on the future of
South African politics at the
Constitutional Hill today.
Maimane in his speech
celebrated the demise of
South Africa’s ruling party –
the African National Congress
(ANC) . Below is the full
speech of the DA leader:
My fellow South Africans,
I stand before you today as a
son of Soweto.
A father, husband, a patriot.
I stand before you as a young
black South African.
Like many others I grew up
poor, deprived of opportunities
because of the colour of my
skin, and the community I
was born into.
We never had money for
university, so when I was at
school I worked after class
selling shoes to help the
family save up for the fees.
My mother – who was
unemployed at the time –
sold eggs to our neighbours
to put bread on the table.
We all did what we could in
pursuit of our dreams. No
matter how hard things got,
we never stopped believing in
a better tomorrow.
Life wasn’t easy for us, but
my story is not unique. It is
the story of so many young
people in our country – kids
of my generation and, sadly,
the youth of today.
I entered into public life
because I wanted to make a
difference in the lives of
young people. To make sure
that every child has the
opportunities to truly enjoy
the material freedoms
promised to them.
I love this country with every
fibre of my being. And I know
all of you do too.
So, what I am about to say is
not easy for me to talk about,
and I know it will be hard for
many people to accept.
I am not ashamed to admit
that the events of the last
few months have shaken me.
Watching young people’s
dreams shatter as quickly as
the rand fell.
Seeing our economy enter a
downward spiral because of
the actions of one man.
This has taken its toll on all
of us.
I don’t know about you but I
have experienced denial,
anger, bargaining, depression
and, finally, acceptance –
what psychologists refer to as
the five stages of grief.
You see, without realising it, I
have been in mourning.
Not for South Africa. On the
contrary, my belief in our
country’s resilience in the
face of adversity is
unwavering.
I know that we can overcome
our challenges. We have done
so before and we will prevail
once more.
No, I have been mourning
something else. The end of
something I once thought
would live forever.
The demise of something that
seemed woven into the very
fabric of our collective
consciousness.
And that is the death of a
once proud liberation
movement that fought the
Apartheid government, and for
our right to belong to any
organisation we choose.
It is the end of a movement
that once embodied the hopes
and dreams of so many of us.
The demise of a movement
that produced many visionary
leaders – men and women
who will forever be
remembered as heroes of our
struggle.
Leaders like Albert Luthuli.
Leaders like Oliver Tambo.
Leaders like Walter Sisulu.
Leaders like Nelson Mandela.
Leaders like Ahmed Kathrada.
When Apartheid fell, the ANC
was the champion of a new
Constitution that sought to
protect and advance the
freedom of every South
African.
In those days, the ANC
understood that we needed to
build a future as one nation,
united in our purpose and our
destiny.
Building an inclusive society
from the ashes of the
Apartheid state was never
going to be easy. But the
ANC, under Nelson Mandela,
took us forward.
We saw the establishment of
a social grant system that
shielded millions from the
impact of poverty.
We saw RDP houses going up
all over the country.
We saw the electrification of
townships and clean water
brought to rural communities
for the first time.
We saw sewage, waste
collection and streetlights
where previously there were
none.
I remember, as a teenage boy
in Dobsonville, the feeling of
hope that was all around us.
We truly believed that life was
going to get better.
But then things started to
change.
By the late 1990’s, cadre
deployment had found its way
into official ANC policy,
strengthening the party’s grip
on power, but weakening its
ability to deliver.
Around the same time, stories
of corruption started replacing
stories of a caring
government.
As ANC Secretary-General
Kgalema Mothlanthe said
back in 2007:
“This rot is across the board.
It’s not confined to any level
or any area of the country.
Almost every project is
conceived because it offers
opportunities for certain
people to make money.
A great deal of the ANC’s
problems are occasioned by
this. There are people who
want to take it over so they
can arrange for the
appointment of those who will
allow them possibilities for
future accumulation.”
The Arms Deal, Aids denialism
and, later, Nkandla and the
Guptas would become the
party’s defining moments.
The ANC had caught the
disease that infects so many
liberation movements on our
continent. And that is the
cancer of corruption, rent-
seeking and patronage
politics.
Fellow South Africans,
The corruption of liberation
movements is something we
don’t often talk about.
This is because we tend to
view the world in binary terms
– a simplistic struggle
between good and evil,
between oppressed and
oppressor, between black and
white.
But, the truth is, life is much
more complex than that.
Colonialism was brutal
because it extracted
resources from African people
to make rich people in Europe
even richer.
We never agreed to be
colonised. It was forced upon
us at the barrel of a gun.
As a black South African
whose family lived through
colonial and Apartheid
oppression, I have nothing
good to say about those evil
systems.
So let me say today in clear
and unambiguous terms.
There is no place for racists,
homophobes and sexists in
the party I lead.
And there is no space for
people who hanker after our
colonial and Apartheid past.
But, equally, as a patriot, I
cannot accept the view that
says we must blindly support
movements who liberated us
from colonialism.
Because we have seen what
happens to liberation
movements when they are in
power for too long. They go
from liberator to oppressor.
And we now know that South
Africa is not exceptional. We
now know that the ANC is
following the same disastrous
path as many others on our
continent did.
The generation of ANC
leaders who took us over the
threshold of democracy have
bowed out one by one.
In their place have arrived
people who care only about
the riches they can extract
for themselves and their
friends and families.
They steal from the poor
under the guise of ‘radical
economic transformation’,
empowering and enriching
nobody but themselves.
And that is why the progress
we made in the early years of
democracy has stalled.
Just ask one of the 9 million
people who wake up every
day without a job and with no
real prospect of finding one.
Just ask the millions of
parents who can’t support
their children, and the children
who can’t support their
parents.
Just ask the child who exits
our broken education system
– unprepared, unskilled and
unemployed.
Just ask the 17 million
welfare recipients who
wonder whether their grants
will be paid on time.
We have a government out of
touch with the people.
They have forgotten what it’s
like to try and feed an
extended family on a single
social grant.
They have forgotten what it’s
like to send your child to
school hungry, hoping that
she’ll get something to eat
once she’s there.
They have forgotten what it’s
like to spend half your
meagre wages just to travel
to a low-paying job.
They have forgotten what it’s
like to live in a makeshift
home that leaks in the rain
and bakes in the sun.
They have forgotten what it’s
like to wake up every day
without a job and no hope of
ever finding one.
The ANC is the party that
claims to champion the cause
of black South Africans. But
the reality is, the longer the
ANC governs, the more black
people will suffer.
We need to recognise, in their
words and their actions, the
danger this party holds for our
progress as a nation.
When the advisor to the
Finance Minister says that we
need to become broken like
Venezuela before we can
rebuild, we must take note.
We must think what this could
mean for us, five or ten years
down the line.
The ANC has become an
obstacle to our progress, and
we need to start visualising
our future without it.
We need to start speaking of
a vision of South Africa that
isn’t weighed down by
baggage and bled dry by
corruption.
We need to look towards a
post-ANC South Africa.
Because it would be a
mistake to think that Jacob
Zuma is a rogue element in
the ANC.
It would be a mistake to think
that the last remaining good
guys in the ANC can change a
culture of corruption that has
become endemic to the party.
It would be a mistake to think
that the ANC can self-correct.
If we want to save ourselves
– if we want to limit the
damage and rebuild this
country for our children and
theirs – then we need to start
thinking differently.
We have to start thinking of a
post-ANC South Africa, and
how this South Africa can
look and work.
The legacy of Tambo, Sisulu
and Mandela is being
destroyed by the very party
they once served.
It is now up to us to become
their torchbearers, and take
our country forward to non-
racialism and prosperity.
The ANC is dead. Long live
South Africa.
Fellow South Africans,
We all know that we need to
change the path we’re on.
Our future depends on our
ability to realign our politics
around a set of values instead
of race.
We need to start believing
that change is possible, and
that this change can only be
initiated from outside the
ANC, not from inside it.
But our new path will require
courage from all of us,
because it will be unfamiliar.
It will look like nothing we
have ever known.
It will be a new beginning, a
fresh start.
It will require a commitment
to certain non-negotiable
values.
It will require us to put aside
petty differences so that we
can work together to chart a
new course.
It will require political leaders
coming together from all
parties to build a new majority
and govern South Africa.
This is a lesson we must
learn from other countries on
the African continent.
Take Kenya, for example.
After decades under the
corrupt Kenyan African
National Union, opposition
parties put aside their
differences in 2002 to form
the Rainbow Coalition that
swept KANU from power.
In Senegal’s last election in
2012, it took a united
opposition rallying behind the
Alliance for the Republic Party
to put an end to President
Wade’s attempt to grab a
third term in office.
And in the chaotic 2010
election in Ivory Coast, it was
a four-party coalition
supported by former rebel
forces that brought an end to
Laurent Gbagbo’s violent rule.
Coalitions, and political
realignments have played a
vital role in preserving
democracy on our continent.
And this is where our future
lies too.
Indeed, our own process of
political realignment has
already started.
It’s early days yet, but
already the coalitions and
cooperation agreements we
assembled in Johannesburg,
Tshwane and Nelson Mandela
Bay are working and
improving the lives of the
poor in these cities.
Under Mayor Mashaba,
Johannesburg now has a
brand new K9 narcotics unit
that has already made several
successful raids.
Clinic hours across the city
have been extended to 10 pm,
and 3900 title deeds have
been fast-tracked for delivery,
with 2800 already handed
over.
In Tshwane, Mayor Msimanga
banned blue light convoys and
sold the official mayoral
residence in order to build
homes for the poor.
He also launched a R1 billion
housing-opportunity project,
and has started the
formalisation of seven
informal settlement
communities.
Mayor Trollip in Nelson
Mandela Bay has fast-tracked
1900 title deeds for hand-over
and he has opened all
Mayoral Committee meetings
to the public.
He has also launched the
city’s first-ever Metro Police
Service, with 115 officers on
the beat today.
Just six months into the job,
these DA-led coalition
governments have already
made a huge impact on the
lives of poor South Africans in
these metros.
If we can make metro
coalitions work, then we can
make it work in national
government too.
We need to put all our
energies into saving our
country. And I am prepared to
work with all parties that
share this goal.
This includes those good
people remaining in the ANC
who have been moved by
recent events to speak out
about what is happening in
their party.
Today, I extend a hand of
friendship to all of them. I
want them to know that we
are open to working with
them in the future, in a new
and realigned political
landscape.
We heard arguments in court
yesterday for and against a
secret ballot in the upcoming
Motion of No Confidence in
President Zuma.
My view is that we must do
whatever it takes to get rid of
this man, whether the court
orders a secret ballot or not.
On a matter such as this, the
only honourable choice for an
MP is to vote with their
conscience even if it means
losing their job.
Most people agree that Jacob
Zuma’s occupancy of the
highest office is a festering
sore on our body politic.
But removing him is only the
first step towards healing our
nation. To restore our country
to full health, we need to
remove the ANC.
Nothing could illustrate this
better than Cyril Ramaphosa’s
praise of the South African
Democratic Teacher’s Union
this weekend.
He knows that SADTU denies
poor children the quality
education they deserve, but
he also knows that he needs
SADTU’s support to win his
leadership battle in the ANC.
And so, faced with this
choice, he chose the ANC’s
alliance partner over the
children of our country.
You see, ANC leaders are so
enmeshed in the party’s
corrupt web of patronage that
they couldn’t operate outside
of it – even if they wanted to.
And this is why the ANC as
we know it cannot self-
correct, no matter who is
elected their leader in
December.
Fellow South Africans,
The time has come for every
patriot to focus on removing
the ANC from power in 2019.
And I believe that we can do
it.
I am currently engaged in
talks with other opposition
parties to deepen our
cooperation, and I will keep
these channels of
communication open until we
go to the polls in 2019.
If our chances of winning the
2019 election can be
maximised with a pre-election
coalition agreement, then this
is something that we need to
consider.
Nothing is off the table. We
are in the 2019 election to
win it.
While it is important that we
continue with our discussions
and think through every
option, we must be mindful
that not every new idea is a
good idea.
Our discussions must focus
on the removal of the ANC,
not on fixing things that aren’t
broken.
There have been calls from
some quarters for a new
CODESA. Others claim that
the root of the problem is our
Constitution.
We don’t agree with this
approach. We have one of the
most progressive
Constitutions in the world. On
paper, at least, it protects
people’s freedom and
advances it.
What we need is a new
government willing to put the
Constitution into action. A
coalition government aligned
around the values that are
essential to take us forward.
And what are these values?
To begin with, we have to
agree that a free and open
society is the only way
forward.
Guided by our Constitution
and the Rule of Law, we must
cherish our free press, our
freedom of speech, our
freedom of movement, our
freedom to love and marry
whom we want, and all the
other liberties that came at
such a high cost.
We must also agree that
South Africa belongs to all
who live in it, and that our
future lies in overcoming the
legacy of racialised inequality.
As stated in the preamble to
our Constitution we have a
duty to “heal the divisions of
the past and establish a
society based on democratic
values, social justice and
fundamental human rights”.
Then we must agree that a
growing and inclusive
economy is non-negotiable.
The fact is that too much
wealth in our country is
concentrated in too few
hands.
We need empowerment
policies that give everybody a
stake in our future, not just
those with political
connections and friends in
high places.
We have to make South Africa
attractive to investors and we
have to help businesses
create jobs.
We have to agree that our
people can only be truly free
when they have escaped
poverty and can stand on
their own two feet.
Everything we do must be
geared towards undoing the
legacy of Apartheid and giving
people the dignity that comes
with financial independence.
We must agree that we will
only meet the challenges of
our people through a capable
state. This means qualified,
fit-for-purpose appointments
and an end to cadre
deployment.
Powder kegs like Coligny
ignite because communities
have run out of patience with
an incapable and uncaring
state.
They happen because our
government has failed to
redress the legacy of our
past.
They happen because the
reconciliation project of
Nelson Mandela has been
destroyed by those who came
after him.
Our job is to resuscitate the
idea that all South Africans –
black, white, Indian and
coloured – are better
together.
And finally, we must agree
that corruption can never be
tolerated. Nothing will sink
our project faster than corrupt
government officials and their
private sector counterparts.
In summary, the values that
must form the core of our
political realignment are:
constitutionalism, inclusive
economic growth, non-
racialism, a capable state and
zero tolerance for corruption.
This is real transformation,
this is real redress.
Anyone who shares these
values will be welcomed on
board.
And this includes people in
the ANC. There are still many
good men and women in the
party who want what’s best
for South Africa.
It is time for each of them to
accept that their party is
irredeemable; that our
country’s salvation lies in
building a new political
formation united around
shared values.
And so my invitation stands: if
you share this vision for South
Africa, then it is time to join
together as allies.
And our alliance must extend
beyond party politics. It must
include labour, business, civil
society and religious bodies.
Fellow South Africans,
We can halt the slide. We can
rescue our country.
We can build a tomorrow that
breaks free from our painful
yesterday.
In this tomorrow, I see a post-
ANC South Africa where the
balance has been restored –
where the government serves
the people – and I want you
to picture it too.
Imagine a government that
places the needs and the
rights of our school children
ahead of the needs and rights
of a union.
Imagine a government that
goes beyond promises and
actually delivers access to
higher or tertiary education
for all.
Imagine a government that
enlists young South Africans
in a programme where they
can learn the skills and gain
the work experience to set
them up for life.
Imagine a government that
frees up our markets and rolls
out the red carpet for
investors so that millions of
desperately needed jobs can
be created.
Imagine a government geared
towards helping entrepreneurs
succeed beyond the difficult
first two years. A government
that invests in a venture
capital fund aimed specifically
at restoring justice.
Imagine a government that
restructures our economy to
allow small and medium
enterprises to thrive alongside
big business.
Imagine a government that
places cities at the forefront
of development. A
government that understands
the role these cities can play
in building infrastructure for
growth.
Imagine a government that
puts the safety of its people
first. I’m talking about
creating a police force twice
the size of our current one
with visible foot patrols in
every community.
Imagine a government that
not only secures our borders
to control immigration, but
also makes it easier to attract
scarce skills and to trade
across these borders with our
neighbours.
Imagine a government that
doesn’t cripple our state-
owned enterprises with cadre
deployment – where only the
most qualified get the job and
where ordinary people can
gain shares in these
enterprises.
Imagine a government
committed to modernising our
industries – one that invests
in research and design so that
we can compete globally in
manufacturing.
Imagine a government that
expands opportunities so that
fewer people are dependent
on grants, but doubles the
grant income for those who
need it.
This is the South Africa I see.
This is the tomorrow we are
building.
Now is not the time for
apathy. Now is the time to
stand up, together, and be
counted.
Now is the time to look
around you and to realise that
most people want the same
thing as you do. We’re not
enemies.
We all love South Africa, and
we’re all prepared to fight to
save our country. That makes
us allies.
The death of the ANC has
given us the opportunity to
rebuild our beloved country
the way we want it to be.
Long live South Africa!

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