Mr Speaker, hon President, distinguished guests, hon members, in our country today we often talk about two South Africas: the rich and the poor, the white and the black, the rural and the urban, and many more besides. These stories reflect divisions in our past that, until now, we have been unable to properly bridge.
But, today, while we are reflecting on the state of our nation, I believe we should be talking about how the South Africa we live in differs from the South Africa we dream about.
In the South Africa we live in we face hard realities. Millions of our people lack the means to live lives of their own choosing, communities are brutalised by violent crime, the burden of disease robs our citizens of opportunities, and young people without education or employment wake up day after day to a gaping void of hopelessness. In the South Africa we live in our problems are all too real and they grow bigger every day, their solutions moving further from our grasp.
But we do not have to accept this. I do not want to live in a South Africa in which you are locked into a particular kind of life forever, simply because you were born into it. And I believe there can be an alternative; another country of our making.
My fellow South Africans, our best years are ahead of us, and the party that I lead in Parliament offers a vision to get us there. [Interjections.] [Applause.] People are wounded in postapartheid South Africa, and it is difficult to focus on the future when the pain of the past can still be felt today. But as much as the past has shaped us, we cannot keep living in it. We need avenues to the future. So, our vision is to heal us.
Our history does not just remain in the past; it speaks to us and informs our decisions. And so we must be guided by our history, but not imprisoned by it. Our vision is to free us.
Our inability to achieve real reconciliation through economic redress is at the heart of our national discontent. Our vision is to build that opportunity. To bring people together, we need to build a bridge across the divide between privilege and poverty that divides our people along racial lines. We have to help people where they need it and provide real opportunity that will break down these inequalities. When we do that, we will achieve a real and lasting reconciliation. But our vision will mean little if a DA government does not offer the means to reach the future. [Interjections.]
Mr Speaker, I stand here today as the proud new leader of an opposition which is also a government-in-waiting. [Interjections.] [Applause.] Over the coming months and years, we will exercise oversight ... [Interjections.]