I have been to many conferences locally and internationally and I have even been the keynote speaker at a number of them but when ordinary people like you open your hearts and minds to me like you have done over the past few months it humbles me to the extent that I become shy. This happens because I realise that ever greater responsibilities are being bestowed upon me to lead the people of this country to greater heights. Mense se eintlik vir my, ’ Patricia ons wil he dat jy dinge in die land moet regmaak en ons staan bankvas agter jou, maar ons wil he dat jy voor moet loop. Ek dink dit is daardie verantwoordlikheid wat  my so effens laat bloos!

Dit bring my na die kwessie van leierskap en regering in die Weskaap. We have had three premiers in this province during the same term. We are also the only province to have had so many premiers. The capital city of the province has had four mayors, the only city in this country ever to have so many mayors during the same term. The question is, ‘Did these changes make us a better province and/or city?’ We don’t need an answer to this question because we know that all the people in this province have suffered the most as a result of this rearranging the chairs on a sinking ship. Political opportunism and political expediency have ruled this province over the last four and half years. I cannot find words to describe my disgust at this ruthless exploitation of all the people in this province. During these political tussles let’s look at what type of leadership floated to the top? We all know that cream is not the only thing that floats at the top! Ladies, gentlemen, nothing but a bunch of political lightweights have surfaced to govern ordinary, decent and hardworking people in this province. We all deserve and must demand better from our leadership. It is our reciprocal duty to do that otherwise we are failing ourselves and our Constitutional rights.

I called this province a sinking ship because it is in serious financial difficulties. The City of Cape Town, together with a number of major towns are all experiencing serious financial difficulties. In the mean time, city and district municipal managers are paid more than the President of the country! Ladies and gentlemen, this is a joke! Are we serious about creating a world-class city and province? How can we be serious if such buffoonery happens right under our noses? The Minister of Finance has ordered a probe into the salaries of these managers but if a healthy culture of honesty existed in government and Parliament, municipal managers would not have dreamt of taking such a chance!

Civil servants at provincial and municipal levels are in a state of inertia as a result of all these political games. Everyone is too scared to engage communities and start delivering services lest it be tainted with political motives and in the process civil servants gets away with not doing their jobs. In this process the people of this province only suffer. The ID is saying that enough is enough! We are here today to put an end to the nonsense and to start a process whereby the membership of the ID have started engaging local organisations across the province to make our presence felt. Remember my fellow citizens, nothing is going to be delivered to you, we will have to do it for ourselves. The ID will be there with you every step of the way to see that you the decent and hardworking people get the quality leadership you deserve. We will elect people here today who will lead the way in securing the Western Cape Province for the ID in the 2004 elections. They are the people that will be taking politicks back to the people of the Western Cape as we get back to basics.

It pains me when I see the poverty and squalor in which our people live. I don’t enjoy having to take journalists with me when I take blankets to Wallacedene like I did three weeks ago. I do not like making news events of the suffering of our people. However, how do I justify asking Makro or Pick ‘n Pay for food or blankets if I don’t take journalists with me? The ANC, DA and NNP all have had a chance to alleviate the suffering of these people but no, political positioning has become an end in itself and so, poor people become mere voting fodder.

We have been travelling throughout this province to experience firsthand the suffering and misery of the hand-line fishermen in this province. I have seen the fishing communities of Hout Bay, Kalk Bay, Ocean View, Stil Bay, Vredenburg, St Helena Bay, Saldanha Bay, Laaiplek and Velddrift and I can tell you today that there are more than two thousand families who are really destitute. I have been asked to address the communities of Gans Bay and Arniston over the next week and a half and I can assure you that the picture will not be much different from that of the other fishing towns. I cannot understand how the basic or core industry in these towns could have been affected in such an unthinking way by the Government. It stymies me! Does Valli Moosa, the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, not have a brain in his head? To reduce honest and hardworking people to beggars by means of legislation is nothing short of human rights abuse.

As usual, the ID could simply not sit by the way side and in co-operation with a number of other donors started a relief fund. We collected almost forty thousand rand in two weeks and I spent yesterday distributing food parcels to the communities of Hout Bay, Ocean View and Kalk Bay. Again, I was humbled by the sincerity and thankfulness of the people. I want everybody to be very clear that the ID will not allow policy and legislation to reduce honest people into beggars and burglars.

Furthermore, at the bottom of all this is a large measure of underhand dealings in the allocation of fishing rights to current and past ANC politicians. This behaviour is supported by the ruling party and some of its very senior members in this province. Quick donations here and there to the ANC seem to fix any or all fishing quota problem! Any ID member, who becomes guilty of this kind of conduct when we govern this province, will be booted out of this party without ceremony. We must create a culture of hard work, innovation, lawfulness and honesty in this country. Those are the only ways in which to establish a world-class city, province and nation.

On the issue of HIV / AIDS; I will show the country and the world next year that we are not AIDS dissidents in the ID. We will roll out ARV programmes to all people when we win this province in the 2004 elections.

The ID has since its launch in June 2003 been experiencing rapid growth and phenomenal support from people of all walks of life. Daily we are bombarded by offers of assistance from ordinary people. You will notice that I constantly refer to ordinary people because I am an ordinary person and the ID is a party for ordinary people. In five months close on 23 000 people have registered as members and their profiles cut across religion, race and culture. The ID is represented in each province and we have offices in all nine provinces.

The Western Cape boasts a membership of more than 5000 registered members and the ID has members in all six regions which are Cape Metro, Boland, Overberg, West Coast, Central Karoo and the Southern Cape. There are 100 delegates from each of the regions present here today but you will notice much more people, simply because regions pleaded with us to allow for observers to come with and enjoy kinship with other members of the party.

In conclusion, I thank you for your dedication and hard work in building the ID. Remember we are all in this together.

I thank you.