Cape Town - Newly-elected Democratic Alliance (DA) party leader Mmusi Maimane on Wednesday wrapped up his question and answer session in cyberspace in what was dubbed the Twitter Town Hall.
Maimane said he enjoyed interacting with the electorate on the popular social media platform.
“The Twitter Town Hall was a great experience - it was great to engage with South Africans on issues of policy, and on my vision for the DA and South Africa,” said Maimane.
The Twitter Town Hall provided a way for South African social media users to get to know the official opposition party’s leader who was elected on Sunday at the DA Federal Congress in Port Elizabeth.
The only rule of the Twitter Town Hall session for users was to tag questions with #AskMmusi. This hashtag continued to trend on Twitter, even after the #AskMmusi Twitter Town Hall had closed its doors. Twitter users asked Maimane about serious questions related to politics, policy, and current affairs. When he was asked which portfolio he would want, if ever he serves in the national cabinet, Maimane said it would be within the finance portfolio, “so that we can fix the economy to create more jobs as a first priority”.
On South Africa’s role in improving the region, Maimane said it was the country’s job to increase trade and “halt quiet diplomacy.” About engaging with th electorate on Twitter, he said, “I would like to do this again, because in the age of social media, it is one of the most direct ways to engage with South Africans.”
“Ultimately, as a politician I am accountable to South Africans, whether it is [with] a community or on social media platforms,” he explained. Questions that received the most attention during the online conversation were ones Maimane would very rarely field in his day-to-day working environment, such as: “Are you in love with a gogo?” asked one user, accompanying the question with a picture of former party leader Helen Zille giving Maimane a kiss on the cheek.
Another user asked Maimane: “If Heavy K loses a lot of weight, what can he call himself?”
Other questions included light hearted ones such as who Maimane thought wore it best between Beyoncé and Kim Kardashian West, and what the address was of the Eskom employee who “turned electricity off.”
“I laughed a bit at some of the tweets. South Africans have a great sense of humour,” he said.
On whether he preferred his time in Twitter Town Hall to that of Parliament, Maimane said there was no comparison.
“The questions on Twitter are raw and to the point. There are no rules and points of order,” he said.
“Nonetheless, I enjoyed it, and hope to do it again, sooner rather than later.”
ANA