Hon Chairperson and hon members:
On 27 April, for the first time in our history, all of us will stand tall and proud as equal citizens in our common home.
South Africa's first democratic elections are about our common yearning for freedom, peace and a better life for all. They are about a past of oppression and despair and a future of hope and democracy.
There are those who would like us to believe that the past doesn't exist: that the decades of apartheid rule have suddenly disappeared. But the economic and social devastation of apartheid remains. Our country is in a mess.
These were the opening words of the ANC's 1994 National Election Manifesto in which President Nelson Mandela led the ANC into our first democratic elections, the images of which captured the imagination of the world.
We said that to build a better life for all required clear goals and a workable plan. Any solution to the crisis of apartheid needs an approach which rises above narrow interests and harnesses all our country's resources. That plan was the Reconstruction and Development Programme! That is how we got our country out of the mess that it was in, on the road to a democratic society based on equality, nonracialism and nonsexism.
In that manifesto, we said that we needed a government of the people. We said that we needed a Constitution and a Bill of Rights which guarantees human rights for all, including the right to a minimum standard of life. Do we have such a Constitution? And, do we have cause to celebrate that Constitution? We said that we needed an open society that encouraged vigorous debates and people must be free to express their views without fear, including criticising the government of the day. Do we have such a society? Is that something that we can celebrate?
We said that we needed a new style of government. Government administration exists to serve the people, we said. We said that it must be answerable to them. We said the ANC would encourage private citizens to use the independent Public Protector to investigate corruption, dishonesty or violation of rules of conduct on the part of government officials. Those found guilty would be dealt with. Are people using the Public Protector? Yes, they are! Are those who are found guilty being dealt with? Yes, they are!
We said that in government, the ANC would continue the tradition of peoples' forums - meetings in which ordinary people can voice their opinions. Do we have ward committees? Yes! Do we have school governing bodies? Yes! Do we have community policing fora? Yes! Did we open this Parliament to public participation? Yes!
We said that we needed to open the doors of learning. We said that an ANC government would make education a priority from a society in which many were denied the right to education on the basis of race and gender. We have said that we would introduce one education system that provided 10 years of free and compulsory education for all children. Have we done that?
HON MEMBERS: Yes!