Hill-Lewis says he wants the DA to be represented in all villages and towns in KwaZulu-Natal.
DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis says he is building a party that governs well for everyone and not just for one race.
He was speaking in Durban on Saturday, on the first day of the party’s KwaZulu-Natal provincial congress.
“We are building a DA that governs well for everyone, not for some, not for one community, not for one race, not for one class, but for everyone, for all the people, “he said.
What does governing for all mean?
Hill-Lewis said governing for all means spending public money responsibly and delivering reliable service to communities.
“It means fixing that which is broken, it means putting residents before politicians, it means getting clean audits, but also getting clean streets.
“It means good budgets but also good lives, it means competent government that people can feel in their community and in their lives. That is what the DA means when we say we govern well for all.”
Making the DA the biggest party in SA
Hill-Lewis said the bigger goal for the party is the 2029 general elections, where the party is hoping to become the biggest and most influential political party in the country.
“No South African is obliged to vote for any political party that they support; the trust that the vote of every South African has to be earned and won… we have got to become a party that is comfortable everywhere in South Africa.
“Every suburb, every township, every church, every mosque, every taxi rank, every farm, every factory, every campus, every community hall, there is no corner of our country where the DA must not be.”
Hill-Lewis said the province of KwaZulu-Natal requires deep community work ahead of the local government elections in November.
“All those tiny little towns and villages in those thousands of magnificent green hills, we will be in every single one of them, we will be there, that is how we will grow and how we will win.
“And when we do win, we must show strength and principle in government, that is why South Africans trust us because we are not like everyone else who governs for themselves.
“We are there for the public. South Africans are tired of politicians who will do anything to keep power. The DA is different; where we govern, we will govern with excellence.
“Where we govern in coalitions, of course, we have to be constructive. Coalitions, by definition, of course, mean give and take, but constructive must never mean weak, cooperative but never captured,” he said.
Hill-Lewis said the DA goes into government to serve and not to be served.
“I want to be super clear to everyone in this room this morning, the DA is in the government of national unity to fix South Africa, so we will never be in the old system of cover-ups, corruption, protecting those in power that have brought South Africa to where we are today.
“What we are trying to do is bigger than me, it’s bigger than you, it’s bigger than all of us. Our work is important, our purpose is big. It is future-focused, we are trying to build a future for our children,” he said.
Support Local Journalism
Add The Citizen as a Preferred Source on Google and follow us on Google News to see more of our trusted reporting in Google News and Top Stories.