Cape Town - The top contenders for DA leader, Mmusi Maimane and Wilmot James, pitched their manifestos to some 150 delegates from the Western Cape who will be among those deciding the race by vote in early May.
James, considered the underdog, told delegates he would seek to win more black supporters for the official opposition by showing an understanding of how apartheid shaped their history and circumstances, one of those present in the closed two and half hour meeting said on Tuesday
“Wilmot made a solid presentation and he was particularly impressive on this score.”
When it was his turn to say how he would handle what is considered the DA’s central challenge, Maimane pointed out that when he ran for premier of Gauteng in last year’s national elections, the DA sliced some 10 percent off the ANC’s previous polling score in the province, down to 53 percent.
James at the weekend released what his camp termed a “mini manifesto” that pledged to grow the DA’s black support base by focusing on issues that affect the daily lives of ordinary people.
“We must fight on bread-and-butter issues that actually matter to voters. We must fight for people who do not have work, we must fight for people who are victims of crime, we must fight for people who do not have a decent education, we must fight for people who do not have shelter, and we must fight for people who do not have access to healthcare,” it said.
In a barb at the Maimane camp, it added that, if he were to win, he would seek to make the party a viable alternative to the ANC, “not an alternate ANC”.
Political analysts have in recent years criticised the party of, under Helen Zille’s leadership, deserting its liberal roots and positioning itself within the ideological paradigm of the ruling party. Maimane is seen as expected to continue in the direction taken by Zille in her eight years at the helm.
In his blueprint, James noted: “We must have a policy platform, which is different from the ANC. We will focus on the DA’s Growth and Jobs Plan, rather than flirt with the ANC’s National Development Plan.”
Maimane received a boost ahead of Tuesday’s meeting in the form of a letter from Mike Moriarty, the DA chief whip in the Gauteng legislature, pledging the support of 144 of the province’s delegates.
The list includes prominent DA MPs Glynnis Breytenbach, Marius Redelinghuys and Anchen Dreyer, along with Solly Msimanga, Jack Bloom, Janet Semple, and Fred Nel from the provincial legislature.
On Monday, DA provincial leader and Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille had formally thrown her weight behind Maimane.
“Like Mmusi, I am a relatively recent member of the DA,” De Lille said. “Like him, I do not believe that you have to have time served to demonstrate leadership or embrace an ideal. You have to have the right abilities and the right principles required for the task at hand. At this historic moment, Mmusi has these in abundance.”
Maimane announced his candidacy less than a week after Zille announced on April 12 that she would stand for another term next month, but James deliberated until last Friday. His mother passed away on the day Maimane launched his bid, and he attended her funeral on Tuesday before the meeting at the Civic Centre in Cape Town.
“It is a difficult time for him, he buried his mother this afternoon before the meeting,” one of his supporters said,
The DA’s elective congress will take place in Port Elizabeth on May 9 and 10.
ANA