The following speech was delivered by Mmusi Maimane in the National Assembly on 10 November 2016, during the debate on the Motion of No Confidence in President Zuma. Click here to watch the full speech.
Deputy Speaker
Honourable Members
Fellow South Africans
Bagaetsho
Dumelang
This is South Africa.
A land of contrasts. Where hope overcomes fear. Where light shines through the dark. Where good triumphs over evil.
This is South Africa.
Where every generation faces its own struggle. The fight against colonialism. The fight against apartheid. We have overcome these struggles. We can overcome anything.
This is South Africa.
A place of reconciliation and forgiveness. Where one man spent 27 years in prison so that we could all be free. He remains our moral icon.
This is South Africa.
A place of unimaginable beauty, and extreme deprivation. Where the majesty of the landscape is blighted only by the poverty of its people. This is a scar on our collective conscience.
This is South Africa.
Home of the best Constitution in the world. A progressive charter specially tailored to overcome our painful past, in which our social rights are enshrined alongside our civil rights.
This is South Africa.
It is the country we love. The country that we live for. The country that we fight for. The country that we will die for.
Honourable Members. We are here today to make a choice.
The choice we make today will determine the future of every South African.
Today, we can choose corruption, or we can choose opportunity for all.
We can choose to sit back while our state is captured by the greedy and the corrupt, or we can stand up against state capture.
We can choose to elevate one man above the law, or we can fight for every person to be equal before the law.
We can choose to let one man to enrich himself, or we can help millions to free themselves from poverty.
To put it plainly, Madam Speaker, we can choose Jacob Zuma. Or we can choose South Africa.
That is the choice that each one of us must make today.
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