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It’s time to admit the ANC has betrayed us, and to pass the baton to the DA, writes Ghaleb Cachalia
I grew up in a family forged in the struggle against injustice. My grandfathers, Ebrahim Asvat and Ahmed Cachalia, campaigned with Mahatma Gandhi against injustice.
My father, Yusuf Cachalia, served as secretary-general of the SA Indian Congress. He was arrested and tried by the apartheid government for civil disobedience and served spells in prison and detention.
He was sentenced for his part in the Defiance Campaign in December 1952, along with Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada and JB Marks. He was banned and lived under house arrest for a cumulative 27 years. As a consequence, I spent years in involuntary exile overseas.
My mother, Amina Cachalia, marched alongside women of all races in Germiston in 1952 as part of the Defiance Campaign. She and her comrades were arrested and held in a prison in Boksburg.
She was one of the leaders of the 1956 Women’s March on the Union Buildings – the occasion we celebrate as Women’s Day. I often remark that I was the only male on the march, my mother being pregnant with me. She and my father were icons of our struggle for freedom.
One thing I learnt from my family and their lifelong activism was that, even in the face of the worst injustice, we must never stop imagining what sort of country we can become, and what sort of society we want to live in.
I value nonracialism and reconciliation. A child born in Tembisa must have the same opportunities as one born in Bedfordview. I value the rule of law, and human rights and human dignity. I value the idea that government works for the people, not the other way around.
Throughout my life, I believed the ANC embodied these values. It was more to me than a party. It was my extended family. It was my home. It was where I forged lifelong friendships, where I placed my faith for a better life for all South Africans.
It was the party that rewarded my faith and enshrined my values when Nelson Mandela signed our Constitution into law in 1996. It was the movement that embodied the hope and aspirations of the people of our country. It was the movement that led us to believe that we could achieve greatness. It gave us hope. It gave me hope. But sadly, after 22 years of ANC government, we have been betrayed.
We have watched our values being reduced to rhetoric. We have watched our painful history being abused as a tool to divide South Africans to cover up for the failures of government. We have seen a corrupt elite use the power of the state to benefit only themselves and their families. We have seen unemployment rise and too many of our fellow citizens become trapped in poverty.
We are in the second most unequal city in the world. Ekurhuleni used to be called Africa’s Workshop, but after years of mismanagement, it is deindustrialising. Over the past decade, about 250 000 jobs have been lost – without these losses, unemployment would halve from 30% to 15%.
A city that should be a beacon of hope and opportunity remains divided. Nearly 24% of households do not live in formal dwellings. More than 40% of the people do not have a tap in their homes. Fifteen percent do not have a flush toilet. Almost 20% have no electricity.
I stand here today not because I’m leaving the ANC, but because the ANC left me. It left me and millions of South Africans when it chose one man over the rule of law. It left me and millions of South Africans when it chose to protect that one man in Parliament. It left me and millions of South Africans when it betrayed the values of our Constitution.
The time has come for us to once again find our hope and aspiration. We need to realise that as a nation we can be what we choose to be. This is why I stand with the DA and will be campaigning as mayoral candidate to usher in an era of DA government in Ekurhuleni. The DA offers us a new path, where freedom, fairness and opportunity are the values on which we make government work for the people.
I am not standing with the DA today because I am angry. I am with the DA because I am hopeful of a DA government delivering a better tomorrow. The time has come for change and the DA is the vehicle to deliver that change.
My vision for the city of Ekurhuleni is an inclusive city, where the people who are struggling to find opportunity receive a much-needed hand up in life, where the striving are able to grow and excel, and the successful are able to invest and innovate. To achieve this, our city must be free of crime and grime. Our Metro police must be trusted by and partnered with all communities.
Our children must not be harassed and entrapped by drug dealers. Our city must be transparent. Housing waiting lists must be opened up for public scrutiny. Tenders must be awarded in an open adjudication system. Corrupt and callous officials must be dealt with – the city must work for all its residents. Our officials must be competent, qualified and ready to deliver.
Our city must care for the poor. Our policy for the welfare of the indigent must ensure services reach those who can’t afford it. Our housing policy must include in situ upgrading so people don’t continue to suffer the indignity of poverty. Every child in this city must have a light under which to study, clean running water and sanitation. No person should suffer the indignity of a pit latrine.
Our city must be open for business. We must roll out the red carpet for investors who want to create jobs and grow our economy. We must ensure start-ups and small businesses in particular have the right incentives and support.
Our city must have good infrastructure. When all the roads are tarred, when the water leaks are fixed and the street lights work, we not only make life easier for our citizens, we lay the foundation for investment and growth.
Throughout my life, I have opposed injustice. It drives me; it defines me. Today, the biggest injustice is that we do not provide economic opportunity to all. We know the city on its own can’t create jobs for all, but in a safe, clean, caring Ekurhuleni with good infrastructure and which is open for business, we can give people back their dignity. We can redress the effects of apartheid – honestly, responsibly, fairly.
Now is our time to step up, to choose our destiny and forge our future. Let us answer this call in lines that stretch around schools and places of worship as we vote to change our city for the better. I am wedded to that notion of change for the betterment of all, not the privilege of some.
Cachalia is the DA mayoral candidate for Ekurhuleni
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