Tony Leon on Saturday delivered his last speech as leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), predicting that the party would one day bring about a new government in South Africa.
In an emotionally charged opening session of the party’s federal congress in Midrand, he thanked party supporters for the ”incredible journey” they had allowed him to take in heading the DA.
”Whether by earning a majority of the vote, or by serving as the kingmaker in a new coalition, the DA will one day bring a new government to power,” he told more than 1 000 delegates and international observers. ”I have no doubt that the DA will soon herald the dawn of a new era in South African politics, as the ANC [African National Congress] grows more divided and our party increases in new confidence and strength.”
Leon, who has led the DA and its predecessors for 13 years, also had words of advice for his yet-to-be-named successor, saying she or he should remember that the DA never was and never should be a ”simon-pure, doctrinally narrow and politically irrelevant sideshow”.
”We are big, we are diverse and we need to remember and to practice the biblical injunction that ‘in my father’s house there are many mansions’ — where there is indeed room for all,” he said.
Three candidates are contesting the leadership — Cape Town mayor Helen Zille, who is seen as the favourite; DA Eastern Cape leader Athol Trollip; and federal chairperson Joe Seremane. Leon said they are all excellent candidates, and he wished them all luck.
He pledged his unconditional support to whoever wins Sunday morning’s election, and said he will freely give advice and help. ”But I will not get in the way, I will not interfere, I will not attempt to manage affairs from behind the scenes. You will be responsible for your own successes and failures.”
Leon, who this week held his first private meeting with President Thabo Mbeki, also warned his successor that the DA’s job is not to appease the ANC. Discussions with the ruling party on areas of disagreement are entirely ethical and appropriate in a democracy.
”But our party is not going to be judged by how many smiles we win from the government benches,” he said. ”The government did not put us in office. We represent the people. It is in their name that we need to speak.”
Leon said he is proud of the DA’s contribution to South Africa over the past two decades. It is because of the DA and its predecessors that the country has a liberal-democratic Constitution with a strong Bill of Rights. It is largely because of their efforts that South Africa has an independent judiciary and that judges are not chosen by the president, and that Parliament is not just a rubber stamp.
”The DA has established a tradition of opposition politics that I believe will guide South Africa for years to come,” he said. ”The ruling party has tried to seize control of every institution, public and private. But we have kept it in check. We have stopped some of the government’s worst policies from being enacted and often seen some of our own best policies adopted instead.”
Leon paid tribute to a number of people, including his wife, Michal; Seremane, who had ”crossed the great divides of race and party to make our cause his own”; chief whip Douglas Gibson; and adviser and party chief executive Ryan Coetzee.
He handed out one brickbat, to former New National Party (NNP) leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk, who at one point formed an alliance with Leon’s party and then joined the ANC. The NNP members who had stayed with the DA had understood it was ”better to stand on the firm ground of principle than on the quicksand of betrayal”, Leon said.
Before he took to the stage, delegates were shown a video on his political career, which began in the Johannesburg city council. Several DA members also paid tribute to him.
Gibson described Leon as a ”remarkable man” who had sought to bring together those who belonged together. ”His greatest achievement is he made it respectable to be in opposition in South Africa,” he said.
Sandra Botha, deputy chairperson in the National Assembly and a Free State MP, spoke of Leon’s intelligence, integrity, energy and insight. She also joked about his having possessed the qualities that allowed him to address large audiences in Afrikaans long before he could actually speak the language.
Western Cape MPL and political veteran Robin Carlisle said he had served under eight political leaders, of whom Leon was by far the most compelling and successful. Those who question Leon’s liberal credentials should know that liberalism would have died of malnutrition in about 2000 without him, he said. ”Go well, dear Tony; you took us further than we dared to dream.”
As Leon ended his speech, his wife took the stage and they embraced, while a display of fireworks erupted. As delegates gave him a standing ovation, he left the hall escorted by a group of young DA members carrying flags, stopping to embrace supporters as he went.
Contenders
Speculation over who will take the top spot began even before Leon announced his intention to step down in November last year. Zille’s name was mentioned early in the race, but she was the last of the contenders to announce her candidacy in March.
She has said her biggest challenge will be to keep the party’s traditional support base while gaining new voters, but she will face the challenge of being both the party’s leader sitting in Parliament and the mayor of Cape Town.
When announcing his candidacy in February, Seremane said there was a ”great role” he could play in helping to transcend what he called barriers to democracy in South Africa. Asked if he thought the DA was ready for a black leader, he said: ”Yes, I think that is not really an issue, but there is a readiness for any kind of good contribution that can be made, irrespective of your pigmentation.”
He recently dismissed rumours that he had been asked to withdraw because of his age and fears that he might be humiliated in the vote. This is something the predominately white DA does not want to see happen to its most senior black leader. Seremane was also nominated to take up the post as federal chairperson again.
Trollip was the first to announce his candidacy at the beginning of the year and is seen as Zille’s strongest competition. He recently admitted as much, saying the race was too close to call and suggesting the vote might even go into a second round. If chosen, Trollip said he would target disillusioned ANC voters to help grow the DA.
Last-minute lobbying
On Saturday, campaign teams for Trollip and Zille were waiting outside the hall for the delegates. Zille’s supporters handed out stickers with a photograph of her face and were urging delegates to stick them on their clothing.
Trollip’s team went one better, handing out T-shirts claiming Trollip would be the ”full-time” DA leader, in an apparent jibe at Zille.
Both candidates were at tables outside the conference venue with posters urging delegates to ”Unite behind Athol Trollip” or that Zille would be ”Leading from the front”.
It was only Seremane’s campaign that seemed fairly quiet with no hand-outs by the end of Leon’s speech. His table had a hand-lettered sign, made up of several pieces of paper, saying: ”Joe 4 the poor, justice for all.” — Sapa