Independent Newspapers asked the two contenders for the DA leadership, Mmusi Maimane and Wilmot James, the same 10 questions.
These were their replies.
1. What will decide whom the DA chooses?
Maimane: The major question in this leadership election is what the future of the DA looks like, and who can take us there. We want the DA to be a party of national government and that is going to require us to win the support of huge numbers of South Africans who have not voted for us before.
James: The DA will choose a leader who is able to give the party clear strategic direction so that we can win more votes by focusing consistently and with vigour on the issues that concern all South Africans.
2. What needs to be done about the economy?
Maimane: The immediate crisis is the electricity crisis. The economy cannot get back on its feet until that is sorted out. But beyond that, there is a lot wrong with our economy.
Also, we’ve got to focus on small business. South Africa needs to become a nation of start-ups. To achieve that we have to slash the red tape that strangles entrepreneurs and address our unequal labour laws, which make it difficult for small businesses to grow and succeed.
James: We need to create jobs for the millions of people who are unemployed by putting the economy on a rapid growth path. This can be done by: expanding trade; stabilising commodity production; plugging into the global marketplace and attracting foreign and local investments to create manufacturing jobs; and supporting the emergence of one million small-scale entrepreneurs, each creating five jobs.
3. South Africa is a deeply unequal society and so far we’ve made only slow progress in correcting that. What would you propose?
Maimane: The most important aspect of inequality in South Africa is the huge inequality between those who do not have a job and those who do. The reason inequality has got worse under the ANC is because unemployment has increased. If we fix the things that are hobbling our economy and start to grow the economy and create jobs, inequality will fall very quickly.
James: We need economic growth and redistribution to create opportunities for poor South Africans to, for example, get legal title to land and public housing.
4. Some ask whether the DA has abandoned its liberal principles, especially in relation to the place of the individual, versus the effects that advantage or disadvantage might have on one’s chances in life and how these may be corrected. Where would you place yourself in such a debate?
Maimane: The DA’s core values remain unchanged. We uphold the rights of individuals to define for themselves their identity and make their own life choices. We uphold the rule of law that protects these rights from abuse by the state or any other group, especially the abuse of the vulnerable by the powerful.
And crucially, we cannot ever shy away from taking action and implementing policies to ensure that those people who were victims of power abuse in the past (during apartheid) and who still live with the legacy of that abuse, get a fair chance to build a decent life for themselves and their families.
James: I will stand up for five principles which are dear to me: expanding freedom and the rights of the individual; tolerance of diversity; non-racialism; a market economy; and a welfare safety net for the poor. These are liberal democratic principles and they are enshrined in our constitution.
5. People ask whether the DA has become “the ANC lite”. What should distinguish the DA from the ANC?
Maimane: It is patently incorrect to say so. The ANC is a nationalist organisation that puts the state at the centre of development, which deploys loyal party cadres to state institutions even when it is clear this leads to the slow destruction of those institutions. The ANC talks about non-racialism, but uses every opportunity to mobilise its supporters on the basis of race.
The DA knows that every growing economy that extends more opportunities to more people is an economy built on sound market principles, with the government providing important opportunities, such as an excellent basic education. We have never and will never engage in race mobilisation.
James: The DA has been prone to strategic drift and confusion and should place its own “Plan for Growth and Jobs” at the centre of its economic narrative and stop flirting with the National Development Plan.
6. Do you believe the DA can take steps to appeal to more black South Africans without alienating its more traditional supporters? How would they do this?
Maimane: We certainly can – in fact, we have already done that in the past three elections. And we know that there are many, many South Africans who agree with our values, but who don’t yet vote for us. Our new “Values Charter” seeks to build a party where South Africans who share common values can come together.
James: With greater prosperity and growth we can take everyone with us. In the end, all South Africans, black and white, want the same basic things: a job, dignity, quality education for their children, safety and access to good health care.
7. Outgoing DA leader Helen Zille is often criticised for having been somewhat authoritarian, but when you have a party comprising different currents, perhaps you need to be forceful to keep it all together. Do you believe you would be up to the challenge, or would you take a different approach?
Maimane: That criticism was never correct – it was just the analysis of some people who needed that story to thrive for their own agenda. Helen was and is an incredible leader. Of course she is strong-willed and opinionated – there has never been a successful leader anywhere who could not forcefully argue their own point of view. Helen held the party together magnificently and I really learnt a lot from her in terms of bringing disparate people and views together. I would draw on those lessons a lot as leader.
James: Listen more. Consult more. Include more. More internal democracy.
8. Do you see a regional dynamic playing a part in deciding the outcome of the leadership race?
Maimane: The federal leader must enjoy national support and work with the national structures. So, no. In fact, Patricia de Lille (the Western Cape leader), has endorsed my campaign, as have many senior party leaders in Gauteng.
James: I have taken soundings across the country. I have support in every province. There are regional dynamics, but I have strong support in Gauteng and the Western Cape.
9. What’s the first goal you would set yourself as the new leader?
Maimane: Any leader should be judged by the condition they leave the organisation in. My goal would be to grow the DA significantly, to win more municipalities, to win votes from South Africans who have not been DA supporters before and, ultimately, to position the DA to be a part of the national government.
James: I would set a new strategic direction for the DA so that we can win more votes by focusing consistently and with vigour on the issues that concern most South Africans.
10. What do you stand for?
Maimane: I cast my mind to 10 or 20 years from now and see the South Africa that is possible, and then try to do now what is needed to get us there. I want to build an economically prosperous and fair South Africa.
James: Dignity through work for all.
Political Bureau