Game-changer: The Democratic Alliances Mmusi Maimane has achieved what no other leader has managed here to unite diverse groups, says the author. (Troy Enekvist)
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Jason Lloyd’s assessment of Mmusi Maimane’s leadership (“The rise and fall of Mmusi Maimane”) is as off the mark as the polls on which he bases it. His attempt at historical revisionism is so scant with actual facts and analysis, it is hard to tell where he conjured up some of what he wrote. Alas, his central claim couldn’t be further from the truth. Since his election, it’s rather been the “rise and rise of Mmusi Maimane”.
Maimane is well ahead of his time; a disruptive leader who has shaken up the party he leads and the South African political discourse. Since his election as Democratic Alliance leader in 2015 — with almost 90% of the vote — the party has grown, diversified and now governs for 15-million South Africans in more than 30 governments. It was under Maimane’s leadership that we witnessed the most significant shift in the political landscape since 1994, when DA-led governments took power in the country’s biggest cities.
At his very core, Maimane has a dream of building one South Africa for all. Long before joining the DA, this was already his mission. From leading NGOs, youth empowerment initiatives and church ministries, there can be no doubt as to what he is fighting for. It’s personal to him. And he has imparted this into the very DNA of the DA.
A central goal for Maimane was to diversify the DA to truly represent the country we still dream of. He championed this move by sponsoring the party’s “diversity clause” at the 2018 federal congress, which now sees the DA’s core values espoused as: freedom, fairness, opportunity and diversity. This relentless pursuit of diversity is what millions of South Africans have become drawn towards, not just in the DA, but in Maimane himself.
The truth is, Maimane is doing what no leader in South Africa is brave enough to do. He is bringing together South Africans from different races, cultures, religions and genders and uniting them around shared values. And it is this fresh, wholehearted commitment to his own vision that has seen him continue to rise.
Maimane is firmly in charge of his party in a way that President Cyril Ramaphosa certainly is not, which is why the DA only has one official policy position on any given issue. This enables the party to get things done in government.
In the 10 years of DA government in the Western Cape, job growth has been triple that of the next-best province. Unemployment is 14 percentage points lower than the national average. We retain two-thirds of all children in school so that they write matric. No other province retains even half their learners in school.
Ramaphosa, on the other hand, is being led by the ANC, as was again evident this week when ANC secretary general Ace Magashule pronounced that Luthuli House will oppose calls for the unbundling of Eskom if they include possible privatisation. It’s become clear that the ANC leads Ramaphosa, not the converse.
The ANC has two official policy positions for countless issues — from land to healthcare, from the Reserve Bank to mining rights, it’s all uncertain.
This is why Ramaphosa wasn’t able to deliver any real reforms in his State of the Nation address. He can promise to give every schoolchild a tablet, but he can’t promise to give them a teacher equipped and trained to actually teach, because his party will not let him stand up to the South African Democratic Teachers Union.
This week marked one year in office for Ramaphosa. In 365 days, not a single arrest has been made for state capture, Marikana, LifeEsidimeni, Bosasa or VBS Mutual Bank. Not a single reform has been passed that can get our economy growing again. Because he is not in charge.
Contrast this with the DA’s policy approach that has enabled 640 000 new jobs to be created in the Western Cape since the DA took over in 2009. We’ve done that by focusing relentlessly on creating an environment that is conducive to investment, by promoting labour-intensive industries such as agriculture and agro-processing, tourism and the green economy.
Thanks to our policy approach, Cape Town is now the green economy capital of Africa, as well as the finance and fintech capital.
Far from being “split in two”, the DA is united behind our vision of building one South Africa for all — growing work and other opportunities for all South Africans. In stark contrast, the ANC is an umbrella term for two groups that compete for their turn to feed at the trough.
This is why almost every single department, state-owned enterprise and municipality run by the ANC is broken and bankrupt. Contrast this with DA-led Johannesburg and Tshwane where both administrations are now operating with surpluses, having cut the corruption and waste of the outgoing ANC administrations to claw back on the huge fiscal deficits we inherited.
As leader of the most diverse party in South Africa, Maimane’s challenge is far greater than for any other party leader. South Africa is an extraordinarily heterogeneous society. The DA is the only party in the country trying to bring South Africans together on the basis of shared values rather than on shared identities.
The DA is not a “black”, “white”, “coloured” or “Indian” party seeking to represent the narrow interests of any specific group. Rather, it seeks to unite all South Africans — no matter their race, age or creed — around the simple, yet crucial, commitments to the rule of law, nonracialism, a market economy and to building a capable state.
It would be so much easier to build a party that promotes just the interests of one homogenous group. But that is not what South Africa needs. Our country needs a party that is committed to building one South Africa for all, to growing opportunities for all South Africans.
Far from being a “weak leader”, Maimane is a bridge-builder with an ability to connect with and unite people from all backgrounds. Perhaps Lloyd has mistaken Maimane’s humility for weakness. Maimane does not subscribe to the notion of Big Man politics. Big Man politics is a key feature of liberation movement politics, an approach that continues to hold Africa, including South Africa, down.
Maimane and the DA believe that only democratic institutions can protect people from the abuse of power. We don’t believe in putting any single individual on a pedestal and making him or her all-powerful. Only well-designed systems and well-considered policies can produce results that truly bring improvements to people’s lives.
Under Maimane, the DA is not a centre-left party as Lloyd tries to argue. Rather, there is clear blue water between the DA and the ANC on almost every key ideological choice and policy position. And it’s the DA’s policies that — when implemented in government — would best improve the lives of South Africans.
Election after election, the DA defies the polls, and yet commentators still allow themselves to be duped. The DA is the only party that has grown in every single election since 1994 and, under Maimane’s leadership, 2019 will be no different.
Graham Charters is Mmusi Maimane’s chief of staff