Good morning people of Alexandra, good morning. Good morning residents of Alexandra, good morning. Power to the people of Alexandra, power.
My good people, I humbly stand before you, not as your master, but as your poor servant ready to transform Alexandra township to resemble your leafy next door neighbours in Sandton, and this goes for all the other townships, Soweto included.
You have all probably heard these words before, time and time again whenever there is an election on the horizon and politicians have to present their party manifestos which outline what they hope to do for you.
People of Alexandra, I want you to take careful note of this statement. It’s not you, by the way, deciding what you want in Alexandra, but them telling you what they will shove down your throat whether you want to eat it or not.
Now, when these politicians come to you to tell you what they will do for you, not what you as the community and residents of Alexandra want, they will present themselves as ‘humble and poor servants’ that are ready to serve you when, in actual fact, they are stinking rich and, as reported in national newspapers, some have looted and siphoned off your money and stashed it away in fat offshore bank accounts that are beyond your reach.
Ask yourselves, what is humble and poor about a politician? A politician will only be ‘poor and humble’ when he or she needs your votes or when they come crawling on their knees to beg for your votes so they can join the ruling elite and eat, siphon and loot the treasury.
Show me one humble and poor politician that you know. Don’t tell me about one who’s waiting in the corner ready to take over from the incumbent. He or she may be poor, maybe at that time, but give him or her five years in power and the tummies, the cars they drive, the designer suits they now wear and the bling-bling pendants hanging down their necks, will speak for themselves – and they no longer live in Alexandra, by the way. It’s too dirty and risky to bring their newly-acquired stinking rich friends from suburbia. Alexandrians will mug, if not hijack them.
Can I ask you, is your Alexandra or Soweto today looking like Sandton? You will remain poor and dirty as you’re in Alexandra and the only person that will look more like those in Sandton will be that same poor and humble politician.
Where are the billions of rand that were meant to transform Alexandra to resemble Sandton under the ARP? Where are the millions which were meant to rebuild Alexandra Stadium?
Where are the millions which were meant to build a state-of-the-art cinema in Alexandra under the ARP? Where are the millions which were meant to build KwaBhekilanga Sports Field?
Where are the millions that have been poured, year after year, to contractor after contractor since 2003 to build the Mandela Museum, which is now known as the Alex Heritage Centre? Where are the millions which were meant to build a tourism hub next to the TB Settlement?
So, Batho ba Alexandra, don’t be fools like those people in Vuwani who burnt down all their schools. The children of these politicians you continue to vote for are not in Vuwani schools but in Australia, USA, Britain and France, you name it, and if not, in expensive suburban private schools where children are only seven in a class.
Please vote wisely on 3 August.
