Maimane: I was right to leave the DA
Former Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane says the events of the past year has proved that he made the right decision to leave the party.
Maimane resigned as leader of the official opposition in October 2019, saying that despite his best efforts, the DA was “not the vehicle best suited to take forward the vision of building ‘One SA for All’.”
The resignation came on the back of the DA’s poor performance in the 2019 general elections, with many blaming poor leadership with the party’s slump at the polls.
The party has suffered several other high-profile resignations, including former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba and Gauteng leader John Moody.
Maimane, who heads up a civil society body called One South Africa Movement, admits it has been a tough year.
“It was correct that I had to leave the DA because I had a vision of a different South Africa to what the DA wants to pursue. I has a vision upon which black people and white people could work together and be identified as diverse as people who could work together.”
At its recent police conference, the DA adopted a resolution that it does not recognise the existence of race.
But Maimane maintains that being a Black South African is part of his identity.
“This year, not only has it been a confirmation of the correctness of the decision, but as we have begun to champion One SA, I have actually become to appreciate that citizens from different races are actually desperate to work together,” says Maimane.
LISTEN TO MMUSI MAIMANE HERE:
“They are desperate to mobilise society together and actually, more than anything, realise that their vulnerabilities and their hopes are the same for everybody.“
Maimane says One South Africa Movement will, over the next year, identify some of the best independent candidates to stand in the 2021 local elections.
He has joined forces with Cope leader Mosioua Lekota and businessman Michael Louis in an attempt to reform the country’s electoral system.
They will be tabling a “Direct Election Bill” in Parliament, aimed at individuals running for public office after a recent Constitutional Court ruling.
“I am afraid the political system has become captured by the elite. It doesn’t work for ordinary people. You know, as I have been going across the country, people don’t even know what politicians do.
“They did not participate in the political framework, because the majority of people in this country did not vote. Which tells you that they are not persuaded by adding more and more parties to the list.
“So we have to get back to a sense of activism that comes from the ground so that people represent people.”
