Good morning John
 
I suppose that in order to sound different to all the other political promises, I have to say we will not build any houses or will not create any jobs etc etc.
 
But the truth is, the CDA is the only party that actually offers something different.
 
If you can picture a donkey cart. One wheel badly damaged and the donkey itself half dead. Now pile on a group of people and try and get those people from Johannesburg to Durban. It is just not gong to happen. The cart is incapable of getting them there.
 
It is still not going to happen if you change the driver. The cart itself is dysfunctional. Sadly people think that by changing drivers politically, the cart will get them somewhere. It won’t. We can change the driver from the failing ANC to COPE or ID or whoever. Nothing will change.
 
Our systems itself are at fault.
 
All parties other than the CDA support our faulty banking laws. The same laws that brought about the global economic collapse. All parties support our current judicial system. A system that has failed across the world. All parties support our economic and education systems.
 
Only the CDA offers a change in the systems themselves. We recognise that the cart if faulty. If we are going to bring about change to this country we need to change the systems that govern us.
 
We will remove fractional reserve banking laws. The fractional reserve system we use helps create monopolies, benefits only the already wealthy and is the chief cause of inflation. The only reason it exists, is that corrupt government need the system to create false money. This is why every other party supports the system. They have no intention of actually bringing about change.
 
Similarly, we will institute a justice system that offers restitution to victims. Not on an ad hoc basis but for all crimes. If you have a TV stolen, under the CDA justice system, you must get repaid the value of a TV – by the criminal. Having someone sit idly in jail costs you as the taxpayer money – you lose twice - it places an economic burden on the country as well as inflates insurance rates.
 
This is what the CDA is offering that no one else can or will. A change in the way we do things. Not just a change in masters.                                                                                                                                             

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In just three months all Christians will be asked to make a choice that will shape the moral, economic and social future of our nation for years to come. The last 15 years have brought many changes and many peoples lives have been transformed, but never I have I been more convinced of the need for godly governance than now.

For too long have we argued that it is okay to vote for Christians in other parties even though we know that their policies are in total conflict to what we believe. Although I agree that there are christians in other political parties what have they achieved or done to advance kingdom principles.

Gods wrath is clearly visible but the Christian voice has remained silent. We give away our  power to effect real change to the highest bidder. ( what benefits are there in it for me) We need a Moses or and Esther who will be bold enough to warn the government of the folly of its ways. A united Christian voice will send a clarion call to the government that we are serious about our faith.

The government has used its power and authority to legislate and decree laws which can only be described as an affront to our faith. Lets be clear it is not  only the ANC, its includes all those parties such as the DA, ID, UDM, etc who supported the legislation.
They evidently feel that the people of South Africa are happy with their performance. This is despite record unemployment and criminality that brings death and horror to our homes and streets everyday. They are obviously content with their performance on education, where standards have dropped along with classroom discipline that makes teaching impossible. They evidently feel that their policies on abortion, same sex marriages, pornography and homosexuality are acceptable to the majority of South Africans. They appear to believe that they are on the right track despite the high levels of corruption in all spheres of government and a criminal justice system that is soft on crime.
 
PSALM 50  v 15 – 23…….call upon me in the day of trouble……….
 
Legalizing abortions for girls as young as 14 who now no longer need parental consent to have abortions
Legalizing same sex marriages – can you image that the Government has now gotten the church to debate whether same sex marriages are right or wrong when God clearly calls it an abomination.
Criminalize the rights of parents to discipline their children
Disallow religious education at schools ( prayer replaced - ……………….)
Disallow the mention of the name of Jesus at schools
Legalized the proliferation of pornography. Children as young as 7 are now having sex, babies are now being raped.
Our people are dying by their hundreds and thousands because of HIV/AIDS.
Our currency has dropped to its lowest levels in decades.
Unemployment is more than 30%
There is no more respect for law and order and prisons have become universities of crime.
They refuse to accept that these policies are bringing back slavery to our country; slavery to gambling, to alcoholism, to pornography, to every kind of sexual depravity and moral decay.
 
They refuse to accept that their policies are undermining family values and the basic morality that holds together our nation and people. Without morality corruption blossoms, criminals prosper, and our youth will grow up to believe that these standards are the right ones to follow. In our country we are seeing the literal fulfilment of what happens when a nation or people turns it back on GOD.
 
And the worst part of all this is the fact that we live in a country where 70%  of the voting public profess to be Christians. It is they who voted the present government into power. How can we expect the blessing of GOD on the nation when we fail to honour him.
“”IF my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my prayers attentive to prayer made in this place”.
 
Can we afford to continue to compromise while the very soul of our nation is being eroded right before our very eyes.  The bible is clear when it says “what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but losses his soul. You and I know who the real enemy is. He gives a little but demands a lot.

GOD IS WATCHING
The book of Proverbs 29 v 18 tells us “where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint but blessed is he that keeps the law of the Lord”. Our society has cast off all restraint because God is no longer acknowledged. We have allowed our country to become a secular state where the sovereignty of man is promoted above God and this despite the fact that we live in a country where more than 70% of the population professes to be Christian.
There can only be one outcome. The one we are seeing today where crime, corruption, immorality and wickedness have become the order of the day.

TRY AND IMAGINE WHAT SOUTH AFRICA WOULD LOOK LIKE AFTER ANOTHER FIVE YEARS OF THESE POLICIES?
Those parties that have supported these policies think they are doing the right thing.
However the facts are all around us. Crime is escalating. Our prisons are overcrowded, and have become universities of crime. Unemployment is at record levels. The educational system is failing as it produces people that are illiterate and unemployable. HIV/AIDS stalks our streets and homes. Corruption, lack of integrity and dishonesty in business and politics has become “acceptable behaviour”, and the majority of our politicians have become self serving.
As a result of all this, people look to the future with fear, dread and hopelessness. They feel that they can do nothing. BUT THEY ARE WRONG. They can do something – right now! We can do something! You can do something right now!
 
CHRISTANS MUST UNITE AND BREAK THEIR SILENCE
Join your voice with ours and say, “enough is enough, today I resolve to support a political party that represents my values” and show the government that you will no longer allow them to undermine the very foundations that hold together our nation.
Realising that a concerted and united effort is needed for Christians to make a meaningful impact, Christian Parties in South Africa are uniting to enter the National Elections 2009 as one voice under the banner of the CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE (CDA). Psalm 133.
We have drafted a Christian Charter which boldly proclaims where we have drawn the line in the sand. We are prepared to challenge the size and the might of Goliath, not relying on our own strength but on the mighty power of God that worketh within us.
 
The CDA is an Alliance of four political parties who have seen the need to come together in a bid to turn the tide ,however we realize that we cannot do it alone. We need each other because we are all in our different callings persuing the same goal and that is to see the Kingdom of God come on earth as it is in heaven.

REMEMBER GOD IS WATCHING
The Lord’s cause is the greatest cause of all. To be called by God to be a part of bringing about His plan for South Africa is not to be trivialised. We all have a part to play and we must finally decide whether our commitment to GOD or to his purpose a convenience or a conviction?
If it is something we are involved in because we see it as a good idea, We miss the mark.
The CDA is not a good idea it is God’s idea, and we need to see it as such.
God has called us to work together. Where there is unity GOD commands his blessing.
Satan will do all in his power to see that this does not happen.
He tried to kill Moses, Joseph, David, Jesus and the Apostle Paul
As a Christian Citizen praying for God’s intervention in your nation you must register to vote on 7 – 8 FEBRUARY. Because God will use you! Then prayerfully vote for a political party who uncompromisingly honours God and His Word. By doing so you are demonstrating your obedience to God’s Word and clearly mandating the Lord to take charge of our political affairs.
Apathy toward our God-given responsibility to elect Godly men and women of integrity into positions of leadership and authority can result in a Zimbabwe type scenario for South Africa. Christian Citizens must move away from past political allegiances and put their faith firmly in God to rescue the nation. That means selecting righteous men and women who are dependent on the presence and wisdom of God, to lead us.
 
PROVERBS “righteousness exalts a nation”. Righteous leadership is what South Africa desperately needs to reverse the debilitating trend of moral decay, crime and violence, private sector and government corruption, sexual immorality and rapid declining educational systems.
 
Christians must make a critical decision at the next election. Whether they will take God at his word or opt for their own carnal solutions to the nations woes.
 
PROVERBS 29 v 2  “When the righteous are in authority the people rejoice.
Together we can make a difference. Lets adopt the slogan
 
UNITED FOR CHANGE - TOGETHER WE CAN.                                                                                    

World history reflects an alarming trend of the once benevolent, becoming the brutes of oppression. And Africa is no different. Our neighbour Mugabe being one such clear and stark example.

Considering the impact of one's philosophy on ultimate actions taken, it does not come as a surprise in many nations, when you consider the communist root to the freedom movement itself. The purpose of emancipation is no more than the establishment of a fresh dictatorship.

The oft forgotten and not so easily recognisable dictators in hiding however, lurk in the ranks of the liberals. Those that criticise the most. Shout the word freedom the loudest. Those monsters of oppression that hide behind a new form of oppression - the removal of all conflicting rights and voices.

In the supposed bastion of good government, Cape Town, under the DA, the self proclaimed guardians of freedom, we witnessed the tip of a dictatorship iceberg last year.

The DA controlled council, banned amongst others, a proposed ANC Youth League march ,the 'Naked Bike Ride'and the organisation Animal Activist Network News, which wanted to protest Japan’s whaling activities in the Cape. They were also, through the city permit officer looking for a moratorium on all such gatherings and marches despite the fact that such a moratorium would of been totally illegal!

They had previously declared Cape Town the Homosexual Tourism Capital of South Africa despite massive majority outcry in the city.

Of course, the banning of the marches was totally unconstitutional and against the law and amounts to no more than mass censorship. Even the Freedom of Expression institute wrote to Zille firmly requesting that she cease from allowing citizens in Cape Town their basic rights as provided for in the Regulation of Gatherings Act.

And all of this just in a city. The question must be asked - what would they do if they actually controlled the nation? Could the power hungry Zille and her compatriots be trusted with the freedoms we have fought for?

The evidence shows otherwise. The time they have had to show that their actions match their words has proven they are no more than another groups of Dictators Anonymous. Those supposed liberals who proclaim to have all truth and therefore every other voice must be silenced.

And while these liberal dictators in hiding might not always be so evident as their socialist/communist counterparts, they are as lethal, as dangerous to society. They have their roots in the bloody French Revolution and are ruthless but extremely deceptive in their bid for power.

For them, the cry "Liberty above all" means only liberty from the existing ruling party and above all means above individual rights, above freedom of religion, above every freedom we hold dear.

Those who cherish their freedoms would be well advised to watch for those moments when the sheep's clothing shifts a crack to reveal what truly lies underneath.                                                                                                

 Dear Friends
 
I will not greet you this evening in the normal politically correct manner, by using titles in order of ranking but say simply this. Tonight we gather as equals. Business men and women, Ministers, NGO leadership, Community leadership, Doctors. Lawyers, Scientists and other Professionals in their field, Academics, Youth Leadership, Labour Movement leadership and other key role players in the future of our Metro.
 
We all have a role to play in our own areas of influence and I firmly believe each role is as important as the other. Furthermore, I am also convinced that we have to, as a nation, move from honouring titles and position, to honouring performance. As long as we continue to pay tribute to those who fail us, we will never send a clear, irrevocable message of service delivery to those who continue to abuse their positions of power at the expense of the poor and defenseless.
 
Once again, thank you for this opportunity of speaking to you, the Christian leadership in this area. We are gathered from every geographic area, every people and culture group, every language group, every age group, every denomination and if we, in unity can go forth from here, with one message, one commitment, 2008 will go down in history, not for remembering the some or other disaster, but as the year the tide turned in South Africa.
 
I also thank you for your vision and commitment to the kingdom of God. Meetings such as this take us beyond “soup kitchen mentality” into the realm of truly taking back the nation. And who knows, maybe even will spill over into reflecting our Christianity in 2009 when once again we go to the polls.
 
Those of you who have worked closely with me know my strong views on our role as the Church. Typical Christianity sees the poor and gives to charity. Real Christianity finds our why there is a need for that charity in the first place and removes that cause at whatever cost. Tonight we gather as those willing to remove the cause. Those whose actions are not dictated to by circumstance, but those who are willing, through deliberate action, to change those circumstances.
 
This is the fifth year we gather in this manner, and I want to encourage you to make this an annual prophetically planning event, where we as Christian leadership may gather to determine our way forward. Where not only I speak, but other leaders who have the wisdom foresight and integrity to lead our people to true peace and true prosperity.
 
The days are over where we allow our lives and the lives of those around us to be directed by the empty promises, wishful thinking and misguided philosophy of corrupt, inept politicians. We must now enter an era of genuine self-determination and grass roots governance and take back control of our own destinies.
 
We, as Christians, carry dual citizenship and I wish tonight to address you therefore at two levels. Firstly, as the Church and secondly, as citizens of this Metro.
 
AS THE CHURCH
 
My message to you tonight is somewhat prophetic and speaks to what will be required in these times to come. I will never claim to be a prophet however. Rather perhaps a watchman on the walls. Being involved in Christian politics places me without a doubt as such a watchman. In a position to see the enemy approaching. His strategy, and his guile.
 
While on Council, I used the term, the only “Christian Councillor” without reservation and without judgment. The term “Christian Councillor” I used to describe those who are men and women of God, practicing true Biblical principles within Council. Not those who are Christians and choose to do as they please or tow a Party line.
 
I do not see myself fit to judge whether they are Christians or not. That is for God to do. But I am not blind and I can judge whether they act as “Christian Councillors” or according to their own agenda.
 
Similarly, a Christian can sing filthy words in a song and still be a Christian. But please don’t call them “Christian Musicians”. So I say again without reservation – I was the only “Christian Councillor” in the Metro.
 
My message to you tonight is predictive rather than prophetic. It is based in simple knowledge and deduction that reveals only one conclusion. Simple it may be, but the conclusion has far reaching ramifications.
 
We must begin by accepting a few eternal principles. The first is that God is unchangeable. He is the same, yesterday, as He is today, as He will be tomorrow. Therefore, that His ways are unchangeable. There is no shadow of turning in His ways. Further that he is a just God. That he will deal with us all equally.
 
That He is not a respecter of persons. I, you and anybody will get treated equally. Be judged in the same manner.
 
He will never allow an accusation of preferential treatment to be leveled against Him. Every generation will have equal opportunity to walk in His will. Every generation will have opportunity to avoid the consequences of not doing so.
 
In simple terms therefore, if one plus one equaled two yesterday it will still equal two today. It is quite simple therefore to know for certain that if I have one plus one tomorrow I will have two.
 
The question we have to ask ourselves, as leaders in this Metro, is what will the one and one be that we have tomorrow and what will it equal?
 
Christ himself used this looking at history, this understanding of principles, this simple logic, to make his disciples aware that the state of their futures, lay in their own hands. “Remember Lot’s wife” he said. He didn’t have to go into more detail, or explicit consequences for they knew them well.
 
In 2 Peter 2:6, we see Peter using this same predictive teaching. “If you sin as Sodom and Gomorrah did, God will destroy you just as he destroyed them.”
1 Corinthians 10:9-11 lays down the same type of warning from Paul. “"Nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents, nor complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.”
 
What will tomorrow bring? Easy to tell, by simply looking at what we have and how God has dealt with what we have in the past. We know the future by studying the past. I would like therefore to do such a study of the past by looking at Isaiah 22.
 
I know it is common around this time of year to say “I wish you a happy new year” or glibly make statements like “ God wants to bless you in 2008.” While both statements might be true and well intended they have no real effect on whether we will indeed be blessed in 2008. Unfortunately, there is no link between God’s desire to bless us, and our desire to do what is necessary to be blessed.
 
We will sow what we reap. One and one will still equal two. And 2008 could end up being our worst year yet. Someone once said “It is the height of foolishness to continue doing the same things and expect different results.” We need to understand God’s game plan, stick to it and then we can confidently say “God wants to bless you in 2008 AND HE WILL!”
 
This is going to be a year of shaking. In various areas, but without a doubt in the economic field. We have stretched the boundaries of God’s patience in economic terms further than we ever dared to before. Our corrupt banking systems across the globe, combined with unparalleled greed and exploitation must be brought into check. Sadly, we as the church have been sinfully silent on issuing the necessary warnings.
 
God will intervene. He has done so in the past and he will do so again. Man’s worship of Mammon and his related financial systems will not be tolerated. I believe 2008 will be that year where God shows us just how fallible we are economically. He will tear down the economic towers we have built and show us just how weak we are without Him.
 
Sadly, history will repeat itself as the Bible so clearly shows us. Some will turn to Him in this time of need. Will once again seek his face. Other will simply make every effort to prop up the tower – add a coat of paint – so most will never see the crumbling, corrupt tower for what it really is.
 
And many will suffer economic despair. When their god of money is destroyed we will see family breakdowns, bankruptcies, suicides and more. All because we failed to speak and refused to govern. We need to prepare ourselves now, so that when it happens, we are ready with the truth and a way forward.
 
I have chosen Isaiah 22 for this history lesson because the circumstances then were so similar to our circumstances today. As a city, as a nation, they had the same one and one as us. Therefore predictably, we will end up with the same two as them as well. Unless we are prepared to change our one and one.
 
I have no misconceptions about the reception to my message. No doubt, those inside Jerusalem laughed and said, “Oh here comes that doom and gloom preacher Isaiah again.” This will no doubt be the response of my fellow politicians and many other leaders across this metro. They are welcome to laugh and ignore me. I ask only that we here tonight do not do the same. We are enough to change the face of this metro – if we choose to do so.
 
Isaiah 22 gives us a picture of a city under siege. The enemy is encamped around them and has already begun to break down the walls. Just as we stand as a Metro today. The fabric of our society, our basis of morality, our respect for ethics and our stand for justice are being eroded away. Our walls are being chipped away and when they fall, the city will fall.
 
What strangeness possesses man that when in the midst of disaster he has the propensity to go to the rooftops as they did and admire the spectacle of the enemy approaching? This chapter describes to us a people, sitting on the rooftops trying to get the best seats of the carnage, You can imagine the children jostling with each other for the best seats shouting, “Look at the pretty horses!”
 
The chapter begins with Isaiah crying out “What ails you now?” as he tries to understand their madness. “What sickness’” he asks, “is it that makes you laugh and play in the middle of judgment? How can you be a joyous city when you are about to fall?”
 
No offense to the Charismatic brothers amongst us today, of which I am one, but Hillsongs and joyous music, is not going to get us through this one. Being joyous in the middle of carnage is not what God is calling us to right now. He is asking for us find a place with him in weeping over Jerusalem.
 
This sadly however, is human nature and one collection of photographs from Berlin at the end of the war shows the citizens setting up makeshift bars in the streets, partying till sunrise. This, in the midst of daily Allied force bombings that were killing people on every street. In the midst of their destruction, they revert to madness. Rather than turn to God in the moment of absolute devastation, they turned to having a party.
 
Today we have City Council wanting to spend over a millions rands on each “Opening of Council” party, while the majority of our citizens remain unemployed, thousands upon thousands still do not have homes and the world as we know it slowly collapses around us.
 
Isaiah also tells us that it was not only the enemy at the walls that was threatening the city but also a plague within. That the stench of death was not yet of war, but of those dying within the city.
 
How similar this is to us today, where AIDS and poverty is ravishing our people and the stench of death is everywhere. And we have AIDS awareness parties.
 
How far have we come where Parliamentarians pass a law that allows us to suck out the brains of an unborn baby in the name of human rights? When a woman who kills an intruder busy raping her little daughter, in her own home, must stand trial? When the abuse of women through pornography is called freedom of expression.
 
What kind of country do we live in when homosexuals can call Christians bigots and every other name under the sun but when we say a single word from the Bible it is called hate speech?
 
Pornography is permeating every form of entertainment, drug pushers arrogantly enter our schools and prostitutes are destroying suburbs.
How can our whole nation party, dance, drink and be saturated with entertainment, while the walls are crumbling around us? What disease has overtaken our lawmakers when the ANC sings and dances in parliament after the latest abortion legislation was passed and one Parliamentarian proudly shouts “A vote for the ANC is a vote for abortion!” When the DA and every other party supports that vote fully. And Christians celebrate and flock to the polls to support them?
 
Understand as well, that Israel had been warned for some time about their pending destruction. As we too, as a nation have been warned for some time about what the state of our nation would be if we did not stand up and fight. These same warnings that are unfolding before our eyes today.
 
When Christians warned of all these things many years back they were shouted down, mocked and derided. When the Christian parties refused to sign the new constitution, recognising then already that it would lead to our latest laws on homosexual marriage, restriction on evangelism through the latest Equality Act and the wholesale genocide of the unborn, we were called alarmist.
 
Well, since 1997 over 600 000 babies have died in one of the greatest acts of wholesale murder in the history of mankind. Sadly, saying “We told you so,” will not solve the problem.
 
Our youth are decimating themselves with AIDS and we hand out condoms and tell them to enjoy life. People living with AIDS parade themselves around schools telling children that you can still have a great life with AIDS. Has no one got the courage to show them the thousands of skeletal, bodies, riddled with sores, laying in homes and hospital across the country?
 
Is there anyone with the courage to stand up and say, “Are you mad? Destruction and judgment are upon us!” I’m asking you to have that courage tonight.
 
For the sake of our people. Our reputations and popularity are a small price to pay.
 
Verse 14 says, “’surely for this iniquity there will be no atonement for you, Even to your death,’ says the Lord.” They had moved past receiving warnings and were already in the midst of receiving judgment for their disobedience.
 
We are fast entering that stage ourselves. There is no time to be lost. Unless we begin to speak out as one, to stand as one and if we have to, to fight as one, our city will be lost. This nation as we know it will not exist. The dreams we had for our children and our people will have vanished in the winds of destruction.
 
History has shown that man perverts himself even further in the face of judgment and we have to put a stop to the devastation of our nation and people before that judgment is upon us.
 
AS CITIZENS OF THE METRO
 
We act out our kingdom citizenship as citizens of the Metro. Our loyalty not to the constitution, the flag, or the country but to a mandate given to us by God. We establish the rule of God where we live, and for us, this is the Nelson Mandela Metro.
 
I have already painted a picture for you of the state of the metro on a broad scale. I have shown you the one and one we have and hopefully revealed to you the fearsome two it will add up to. Looking at God’s pattern and principles over time, we have come to understand what this means to us and that unless we move to radical activism we are faced with destruction.
 
We have come through various catch phrases in recent years with our council and we have all heard of the “Year of Abahlali”, “The Year of Operation Nagoza” etc punted by our mayors. If there is to be a catch phrase for 2008, let it be this. This is the “Year of Truth”.
 
Let us begin to expose the lies, deviousness and corruption of leaders at every level. Let us speak nothing but truth – no matter how much that truth might hurt.
 
Most of you read in the Herald some years back, the laughable attempts of Cllr Herbst trying to make politics out of Sunday Liquor Sales, calling upon us to write to the MEC to step in. Here’s the truth. Cllr Herbst voted in favour of the by-law allowing Sunday liquor sales as did the entire DA. As did the entire ANC. The voting records at council will confirm this for anyone who has doubts. If Mr Herbst says he did not, he is a liar. Plain and simple.
 
At one Council meeting some years back, Mayor Faku got upset and shouted “Jesus Christ!” over and over again. When called to withdraw he claimed that he was a Christian and that was “our”, (the Xhosa) way of expressing ourselves to God. One council meeting later when challenged on consulting properly with Christians he shouted “My God’s are my ancestors!”
 
So here’s another truth for you. Nceba Faku is a hypocrite and a blasphemer who will use Christians and Christianity to serve his own perverse ends. He will say anything to get himself out of a tight spot and has no respect for you and me and what we believe in.
 
And so I can go through the list of those who stand in City Hall to serve you. It is time to expose them. It is time to go to those who call themselves Christians and bring them into line. It is time for truth.
 
Our housing delivery is a dismal failure. Corruption permeates every project and theft has become the order of the day. Even our provincial government refused to allow us additional subsidies until we prove we are capable of delivering those we have already received.
 
At last year’s opening of Council the mayor spoke of launching our famous “Metro House”. Famous it is, but not for what you were promised. I can show you slabs of concrete in Motherwell that have been signed off as complete houses and monies paid to the contractor. I can show you plaster on houses in Timothy Valley that has so much sand in it, you can scratch it off the walls with your bare hands. I can show you houses in New Brighton with cracks so large, the houses should be condemned.
 
I can take you to people who will tell you stories of Councillors taking bribes to put you on the housing list. Councillors not allocating you a house because you do not belong to their Party. Councillors putting under 18’s on the list who shouldn’t be there. Councillors doing favours and getting gamily and friends houses who shouldn’t be getting.
 
Sadly also I can show you areas in Red Location where people live worse than animals. Where in fact, the Animal Welfare Society would take action if they found an animal. People live there under deplorable conditions and despite 10 years of promises continue living there. A place where children and the elderly are dying. A place where I could visit someone today and witness their death tomorrow.
 
Our people need houses, Decent sold houses. In decent solid suburbs. Anything less is failure.
 
We have almost completed the transition to a complete socialist form of administration and I do not have to remind you all as citizens who experience our incompetence every day that it is a dismal failure.
 
Political nominations are filling our senior posts and their incompetence is matched only by their arrogance. Our systems are held together by a thread and unless we take corrective action soon, we will have created a hive of mismanagement that forms the basis of wholesale socialist corruption, nepotism and political harassment and discrimination.
 
Good stewardship has been exchanged for having lackeys and puppets in as many senior positions as possible and we as a Metro are only beginning to pay the price
 
Our major projects continue in their failure to deliver.
 
The “Ploughing Fields” project has cost us millions rands and delivered a minute faction in return. I have witnessed gardening and agricultural projects started off with R50000 deliver within 3 months and deliver more than we have been able to on almost 6 hectares of land in years.
 
The Motherwell Urban Renewal Project remains a dream that continually sucks up capital with no real plans for sustainability and benefit to our people. The key deliverables of this project were supposed to be job creation, poverty alleviation, promotion of tourism and agriculture and the initiating of investment opportunities.
 
The only real employment that has taken place is the fat cats supposedly running the show. One only has to walk the streets of Motherwell to see that poverty is on the increase. Tourism is a non starter and of course the only likeness to agriculture as I have already mentioned is the smell of manure it leaves in your nostrils.
 
Our “Small Business in Overdrive” campaigns splutter and start simply because we are not speaking the language of business.
 
Believe me, I in many cases do not doubt the original good intentions of the originators of these projects, but we have to reach the point where we face the truth. We are failing to deliver.
 
We are failing to deliver because of a shortage of political will and an abundance of incompetence. When a Party has more interest in staying in power than  in delivery, our people will continue to suffer as they do. When the official opposition can do nothing but constantly criticize with offering constructive alternatives we will remain focused on politics instead of the purpose at hand.
 
These twin evils of the ANC and DA will ensure that our projects, our economy, our Metro remains a wanna-be. A dream that could have been.
For many a dream that never will be. They will die before we reach the fulfillment of our vision.
 
Access to effective primary heath care has still not been achieved with lack of medication, staff, facilities and expertise still being denied to the poor o the Metro. Our peri-urban areas, despite promises, remain critically under serviced.
 
Malnutrition and food security remains a desperate problem for many and the overall health of the Metro on the face of it appears to be declining. We are rapidly losing a workforce that will be needed in the future. Amidst this, we reached the dubious status of having the highest TB prevalence in the country.
 
AIDS continues to dominate the health spectrum as we continue to dally around in indecision and lack of clear direction. We as council funded the Moral Regeneration Movement who call for family values and in the same breathe, we funded Love Life who openly state that family values are not on the agenda. Just have a condom and exercise your rights to have sex.
 
With this kind of confused leadership is it any surprise that our youth lack direction. Have no vision. Desperately look to other avenues for hope?
 
Someone is lying to them. That’s the truth.
 
Our communities are no longer the communities the used to be.
 
They have become places of oppression and discrimination where the people are abused by power hungry Ward Committees who have failed totally in their mandate and act as nothing other than enforcers for the Ward Councillor. Allegations abound of intimidation, corruption and discrimination.
 
Similarly our Community Safety Plan is being totally ignored by the majority of our residents due to nepotism and political intimidation.
 
But our communities will arise again.
 
This year we will once again hear political rhetoric and I assure you that it will focus on two areas. The past prior to fifteen years ago and the future ten years ahead. The reason for this is simple.
 
They cannot and will not talk about today because in doing so they must admit failure. They must admit an atrocious lack of service delivery. In dealing with the present, they must speak truth. And they will not.
 
Therefore they will speak of the past and open old wounds to remain politically popular. Therefore they will focus on Council’s vision 2020 and speak only of empty promises to come. I ask you to see through the lies. I ask you to take a stand against those lies.
 
More than that I ask you to take a stand and begin to speak truth. To those around you. To those you have influence over. To those who follow you.
 
SUMMARY
This is not a time for political correctness. This is a time for truth and transparency. And for a while this truth will hurt. For a while there will be a purging of the filth and many will not like the smell but we must push through.
 
For a while we will not be popular. For a while we will have to endure new enemies and lost friends. But only for a while.
 
I believe in the potential of our Metro and in God’s plans for us. I believe in the destiny of our nation. I believe that you are all not here by accident tonight.
 
Despite all the problems facing us. Despite all the failures that surround us. We know that there is hope, for we carry that hope within us.
 
That we will overcome. That we will win. That God will be with us. This extends beyond belief. This I know. I know also that unless we take up action and speak and live the truth that we will suffer as a result. This I know because I believe God’s Word, even the uncomfortable parts.
 
I thank you all for the opportunity to share with you and wish you all the desire, the courage and the commitment to walk in God’s will this year.
 
The struggle continues.
Amandla! – Go Jesu!

Colin Fibiger                                                                                                                                             

UNITED FOR CHANGE!