Tomorrow, acting premier Job Mokgoro will deliver an empty state of the province address. No doubt it will be flowery self-praise of delusions of grandeur of a desperate and failing ANC. The people of North West should not be fooled.

So today, as the DA’s Premier Candidate for the North West Province, we are gathered here to give a true account of the real state of the province.

Democrats, I can cite the billions lost to poor governance, fraud and corruption by the failing ANC. I can cite failed projects and housing back-log statistics. I can cite adverse audit outcome findings.

In short the ANC in the North West has collapsed this province.

But I think we know all about that, so today, I want to narrate the real stories of the people of North West.

When I was called to lead the DA’s campaign in this province, I agreed on the basis that we will go and meet with as many of our people, like our Leader Mmusi Maimane who has gone from kasi-to-kasi.

For the last four months I have crisscrossed the length and breadth of the province as part of my Listening Tour.

During these last four months I have interacted on an individual basis with close to 2 000 persons.

I have engaged with formal and informal business sector stakeholders, agricultural unions, individual farmers, commercial farmers, emerging and subsistence farmers.

I have sat down with farmworkers.

I have had conversations with many of our Gogos.

I’ve engaged with the people of the North West in the suburbs, the small dorpies, in our townships and our informal settlements.

I have also met with the victims of violent crime, who are in dire need of an honest and professional police service that keeps our communities safe and restores order.

I have spoken to teachers and learners at several schools and engaged with medical professional staff at several public clinics and hospitals.

Democrats,

I love this province and her people dearly, and I am committed to bringing real change that builds One North West for All.

As we all know the people of North West are a resilient people. Despite the very many problems we all face in our lives, we try every day to overcome these through hard work and a never-can-die attitude.

But as I was listening to the stories about the real-life struggles of our people, from all walks of life, my heart broke because 25 years into our democracy, many of the struggles our people face should not exist.

The promise of a better life for all in 1994 has been looted to the extent that there is only a better life for some – usually corrupt ANC cadres and their connected cronies.

Democrats,

All the people of the North West, people like you and me, we all dream of a province and a country where we all can find work and live in peace and security. Where we can provide for our children, where we have a job, access to a good education and quality medical care.

My engagements with the people of the North West again confirmed to me the shocking reality the province finds itself in and the hardships ordinary people must deal with.

I have heard more than 2 000 stories. They all differed, but the themes remained the same.

Anger.

Desperation.

Fear.

Worry.

The people of the North West need jobs. Unemployment and poverty are driving people to their knees. It creates fear for the future, especially for their children, uncertainty and anxiety. Right now, there are more than 731 000 people in the North West who are unable to find a job. This is almost half of all working age persons in our province. It is a crisis.

People are discouraged by the lack of support, the lack of opportunities, the lack of infrastructure, the lack of well thought through and tested plans and policies needed to ensure that each person has the means to live the best life they can.

It was heart wrenching to hear how farmers are considering closing their businesses, pack up all that they have and start over somewhere else rather than continuing facing the harsh problems they experience as a result of a hostile attitude towards them by government, the threat of expropriation without compensation, rising input costs, inconsistent electricity supply and roads that are untravellable.

I was very sad to learn how a young Agri-producer in Hartbeesfontein might now lose his entire farming operation after hundreds and thousands of Rands of input material were stolen from his farm. We heard the stories of how stock theft is affecting our farmers and robbing them of a livelihood.

The scourge of rural crime, especially the barbaric and brutal farm attacks that affect farmers and farmworkers alike, further pushes people off the farms and into the cities.

These problems are beginning to outweigh the love for the business farmers and farmworkers have. This sort of sentiment is very dangerous and threatens food security while the loss of jobs loom large.

Farm workers are sharing in the fears of farmers, because their lives are so entwined living and working the land to feed a nation.

I have met with ordinary hawkers who face the daily challenges of selling their products to put food on the table. The lack of support to assist them in their quest to earn an honest living is alarming. Here we have people who want to work, to grow a business, but they are left behind, outsiders on the fringes of a formal economy.

In Ikageng, we met with entrepreneurs who receive no assistance in business skills development, never mind the basic services needed to support their business ventures.

People shared their personal experiences on how poverty and unemployment snow balls into various social issues such as alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence and children dropping out of school.

In Potchefstroom I met with a beautiful young woman who was brutally attacked in her own home. The emotional scars will remain for a long time. This was one of the many stories of fear we heard. We listened to farmers and farmworkers who have lost family and friends during violent farm attacks.

We heard about attacks on innocent people and how they become victims at the hands of criminals. Only to be victimized further by a SAPS that is under-trained, under-staffed and under-resourced. Criminal cases rarely make it to court with positive convictions.

On our journey, we learned of the daily challenges people have to access clean piped water. Water seems to be a theme that affects the lives of all our communities on a huge scale.

And while people struggle to get water, they are forced live in areas awash with raw sewage.

The smell is unbearable, but the health risks are worse. Young children walk and play amidst the sewage.

In Mahikeng I spoke to an 82-year-old Gogo. She told me she has been waiting for a house for more than 15 years. She herself said she would probably die before the failing ANC government would build her a house. This Gogo’s dream of becoming a home owner and owning a title deed has simply not become a reality. Chances are it never will, unless there is change in this province.

Many housing beneficiaries narrated that they are forced to live in substandard RDP houses and that due to poor workmanship walls fall apart and floors collapse.

Our visits to schools and clinics revealed a system where the people are left behind.  Overcrowding, dilapidated buildings pose safety risks, lack of water and sanitation and safety are huge concerns at our schools.

Clinics are under-stocked with essential medication, staff are over-worked, and patients have to bear the brunt of poor medical care which in some cases result in avoidable deaths.

As I travelled the roads of the province, I experienced firsthand the deterioration of our roads.

I met with farmers and rural communities surrounding the Tosca/Vergelegen provincial road. Community members explained to me that emergency services and policing are hampered by the poor state of roads. Farmers here told of how transporting companies simply refuse to collect produce to take to market as the damage to trucks far outweigh any profitability.

Service delivery across the North West has basically collapsed. At the receiving end are ordinary people.

Another disturbing, but general theme was corruption, which robs our people.

The VBS bank heist has left four municipalities completely bankrupt and unable to deliver even the most basic of services. R314 million intended for service delivery has been looted in the VBS scandal.

As a result, when I engaged the people of the Madibeng, Moretele, Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati and Mahikeng local municipalities, their stories are those of victims of a broken government that is completely corrupt. This money should have been used to better the lives of all, to bring services and help create jobs, but instead were swallowed by a greedy, political-connected group of vultures.

The state of this province can be seen by the living conditions of its people. The real state of this province is a bleak picture where people are the ultimate victims of an uncaring ANC government.

The real state of the province is quite depressing. The North West is in a state of collapse and is in need of real change.

I have heard the pleas of the people of the North West. The DA has heard your pleas. What people want are quality basic service delivery, jobs and security. What the people do not want is more empty promises.

Democrats,

Although it is important to hear these stories, I am not here to deliver a message of misery and despair. It is in our darkest hour that the true brilliance of ordinary South Africans shines through.

I have hope.

I have hope in the people of the North West.

Now more than ever there is hope for a better future. A future where we can all work together to build One South Africa for All.

We can build a North West where each and every person has access to quality education, healthcare and a jobs market that employs people permanently in a growing economy.

Our people deserve better.

The DA remains the only alternative political party to the ANC in government.

Where the DA governs, we have shown that we have the political will to put the needs of people first.

The DA has a credible track record in improving the lives of all people – especially the lives of the poor and vulnerable.

Now that I have heard the people of the North West, I will craft a North West specific plan of action to respond to the concerns raised with me.

The DA will soon release its national plan of action. This manifesto offer will seek to bring South Africa back on track.

We will also craft a specific North West manifesto that will not make empty promises, but will begin a process to get our province back on track towards reaching its full potential.

Together, the DA nationally and provincially remains committed in our vision of building One South Africa for All, but we need the support of as many people as possible.

If the people of North West rally behind the DA, we can together change people’s lives for the better.

Together we can bring real change to the North West.

Election day on the 8th of May can be a real game changer for the North West. We call on all the people to reject the broken ANC and vote in a DA government that can and will improve the lives of all.