GOOD Speech by Patricia de Lille, GOOD Leader & Minister of Tourism, during the RISE Mzansi Mayoral Launch in Johannesburg:
It is my pleasure to be here today to endorse a young leader for Mayor of this great City of Johannesburg.
I have long respected Lukhona Mnguni for his seriousness.
That is, his seriousness about the privilege and the duty of political power and elected office.
As a political analyst, and commentator, he has been consistently astute and he has consistently demanded what every South African deserves – service and excellence.
Now he is putting his hand up to lead this great City and I expect he is the new generation of leader Joburg needs.
As they say…”commeth the hour, commeth the man”.
Or let’s say – the moment finds the person.
I spent the better half of my life fighting in the struggle to liberate our country from the evil of colonialism and apartheid.
For all those years it was a sacrifice my family made in order for me to act upon the powerful conviction I had: that South Africa deserved freedom and that freedom would truly mean a better life for all.
In 1994 we achieved democracy but we have a long way to go still for all South Africans to enjoy freedom and a better life.
And so we continue to serve and to fight for the right of every South African to live in dignity, with a real roof over their head, food on the table, and a decent job.
Such basic things some of us take for granted but which are still a hope for the millions of people who live with intolerable suffering.
As we say in GOOD: “we have to stop the suffering”.
Sometimes people ask me how I can work with the ANC after having first exposed
the extent of the corruption, and rot, that took hold of our liberated country – when I blew the whistle on the arms deal 28 years ago!
It’s unimaginable that that was 28 years ago – apparently the accused will go on trial soon!
But, when I’m asked that question I always say “I can serve my country, which I love, in any capacity”.
And since the 1994 elections I have had the privilege to serve in many capacities, and in executive office, in all three spheres of government.
One of the most impactful offices I held was as Mayor of Cape Town for seven years.
The office of Executive Mayor is an opportunity to serve with immediacy and to lead a government to directly solve the problems of our people.
The problems of our people knows no colour and no party affiliation.
When you serve as Executive Mayor you serve a City of people who look to you and your government to take responsibility and take action – regardless of who they are or where they live.
It is not an office of unfettered power. But it is an office of unfettered duty. And it comes with influence.
And influence is why it is so important that we elect an ethical Executive Mayor who will use the powers he has with empathy and with humility about the complexity.
Influenced by his mandate and his values – and not by the hidden hand of unelected political party influencers.
As the longest serving Executive Mayor of Cape Town I can say, with unmatched experience, that voters must be cautious about those parties campaigning around personal saviours.
Leading a City government requires collaboration, listening, sharing leadership with your team and being able to engage with dissent.
As you know, RISE and GOOD, are contesting these elections under a combined national campaign and that RISE will be the leading party, and the party on the ballot in Gauteng, while GOOD will be the leading party, and the party on the ballot, in the Western Cape.
Therefore, RISE and GOOD are offering the people of the City of Joburg, a credible alternative.
A campaign led by Lukhona Mnguni, OUR mayoral candidate.
We are offering leadership that is competent but humble, decisive but humane, strategic but emotionally intelligent.
Lukhona embodies the Joburg of 2026, not 1986, and he represents the Joburg of the future.
His leadership of the powerhouse City of Joburg will hand the baton to the next generation of leaders where it rightfully belongs.
We must thank him for being willing to step up, step forward and walk his own talk.
It is easy to be an armchair critic. It is courageous to respond to this hour of need in Joburg by saying I am willing and able to serve.
Young South Africans must lead.
Thank you Lukhona. People of Joburg this is what they call a once in a generation opportunity. Don’t miss the opportunity to be better served.
GOOD Community Engagement: The party encourages active community participation in governance.
Poppy Coffee
A British man on safari walks into a bar far out in the reaches of a game reserve in Southern Africa, he stays at the bar for a while shooting the shit with the bartender and drinking like a fish, he offer to buy the barkeep a round and since no one else is within 2km of their small oasis of liquor the barkeep obliges. The englishman goes off to the bathroom to have a good old go at the porcelain, he\’s back and ready for a few more whiskeys. He\’s just sat down when suddenly in the distance he hears a scream. He looks over his shoulder and dismisses it as nothing, he turns to the barkeep and orders a drink, takes a sip and hears the scream again. He looks at the barkeep who just shrugs it off. A minute or two later he and the barman hear it again and go outside to take a look. They see a lone figure running towards them screaming, he spots them and lets out a cry, RUN!!!!! HE\”S COMING!!!!!
The barkeep and the Englishman both look at the terrified bedraggled sight before them, and try to calm him down, but he\’s completely inconsolable. They give him water and finally manage to get a word out of him but he struggles free from their grasp and run away screaming.
A few minutes later the same thing happens with a whole group of men running in and screaming, he\’s coming, he\’s coming the barkeep grabs hold of one of the men as he tries to sprint past the bar and tries to get information out of him, again no response other than terrified gibberish.
The barkeep and his customer are starting to get worried, they start to pack up before another group of horrified natives run up to the bar most of them flee but one tries to hide behind the bar, the barkeep pulls out a shotgun and points it at the terrified man\’s face, finally managing to coax some words out of him. \”He\’s coming for us, Vernon Koekemoer is coming for us, we have to hide!!! We have to get out of here.\” He gets up and tries to run but the barkeep grabs him, feeling trapped in a panic he grabs the barkeeps shotgun and blows his own head off. The Englishman and the barkeep look at each other starting to really panic now.
They look out of the window and off in the distance they see a tornado coming towards the bar, at the bottom of the tornado they see the hugest beast of a man they have ever seen, as he gets closer they spot that he is riding a rhinocerous and using a crocodile as a riding whip, with each smack of the crocodile across the back of the rhino the louder is screams and the faster it runs, the tornado following it getting ever larger.
The 2 look at each other and start to fortify their position, they\’ve got a gun and they\’re waaay to drunk to run, so they start piling bar stool and tables and anything they can get their hands on to make sure they\’ll be safe when he arrives. They\’re not gonna make it, they can see the man slowing down his rhino, by now the crocodile is nothing but reptile paste on the bruised rump of the half dead rhino, the rhino drops down dead from exhaustion and crashes to the ground right outside the bar the tornado loses it\’s last breath in a cloud of dust as the huge man crashes his way through the make shift barricade and charges up towards the bar where the 2 men have taken shelter, he grabs a bottle of the hardest liquor on the shelf and down the entire litre in 1 gulp, he peers over the bar sobbing and sees the 2 defenders cowering down behind the crates of beer, they look up at the mans\’ face and he stares at them with a look of complete and utter hopelessness, he stares at them for a half second and half screams, half sobs, \”Oh my god what are you still doing here!!! WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW!!!! Vernon Koekemoer is coming!!!!\”
Eye Devil
Fun South African Fact: South Africa has continuously paid tribute to Dr Christiaan Barnard’s groundbreaking medical achievements.