‘I know I’m powerful but I couldn’t be so powerful as to build this party alone.’ Photograph: David Harrison
People still refer to the ID as ”Patricia’s Party”. Is there a party beyond you?
That’s a deliberate strategy to deny the historical fact that I became the first woman leader of a political party that contested elections for the first time in 2004 and won national and provincial seats. We also won 155 seats in the local elections in 2006. I know I’m powerful but I couldn’t be so powerful as to build this party alone.
Your target in this election is a million votes, more than three times as many as in 2004. Is that realistic?
The projection was based on our growth. In 2004 we got 267 000 votes, which increased to 503 000 in the 2006 local elections. At the moment we have 300 000 signed-up members and govern 26 municipalities.
Former ID leaders Avril Harding, Simon Grindrod and Vincent Gore left the party, highlighting problems with your leadership style.
We found out that Harding was leaving to form the Social Democratic Party in the 2007 floor-crossing period. He was fired because in our constitution you can’t be a member of another party. Grindrod didn’t leave with our seat and I respect that. Gore is a serial floor-crosser who went from DA to ID and then ANC. Also remember we’re still a patriarchal society and some of these guys were not comfortable with being led by a woman. I told them I’m not your sister or your wife and you won’t treat me that way.
How could you put a convicted killer (Narentuk Jumuna) on your candidate list?
I was horrified when I learned of this killing. Here’s a party which says you can’t have men who don’t pay maintenance and we had this guy! We’ve laid fraud charges because he lied on his application, saying he has no criminal record. Our investigation shows there’s a gap in our procedures because we don’t have powers to check a person’s record. Part of the problem was that he’d changed his name and the killing took place in Ireland in 1963.
Isn’t it a mistake to focus on the Western Cape, where Cope and the DA are very strong?
Thabo Mbeki told Parliament that if we can solve the race issue in the Western Cape it’ll be easier to do it in the rest of the country. I’m participating as premier candidate because I want to stop the exploitation of race in the province. We have experience in bridging the divides of the past in municipalities we govern, particularly between coloureds and blacks.
How has your coalition with the DA in the Cape Town council benefited your party?
It has pros and cons. In a coalition political parties are forced to consult and to reach consensus. An example was when we refused to support the budget because we felt it didn’t cater enough for the poor and they had to revise it. On the other hand you have to tolerate the other parties for the sake of the people of Cape Town. It’s like a loveless marriage.
The ID is not as visible in this campaign as previously.
I can’t be blamed if the media don’t cover ID events. We’ve been concentrating on rural areas where people tell me I’m the first MP to come there. We also don’t issue hundreds of media statements every day — we pick our issues carefully. We’ve put up 200 000 posters and more are coming. Our radio and TV ads are coming out this week. We’re going for a short aggressive campaign in the last five weeks to peak just before the elections.
The ID has a high profile on the arms deal. Do you have any other policies?
My brief in life is not to run after crooks only. I was in the trenches against apartheid and I’ve also fought for workers’ rights. I took five ministers to court about the conditions of juveniles in prison and I won. I helped the land affairs department deal with land restitution for 15 communities. We’ve acted on many issues, including HIV/Aids, the environment and crime.
Shouldn’t you dissolve and merge with other opposition parties to consolidate opposition to the ANC?
The 2009 elections are important for us to show our voters that the choice they made five years ago is not going to disappear. But we’re promoting the idea that in the 2011 local government elections the opposition should contest under one name. It would be a test run for 2014.
Any skeletons in your cupboard?
No, nothing [laughs].