Pretoria - Former DA leader Mmusi Maimane has set his sights on a return to Parliament and having his party, Build One South Africa, represented in all nine provincial legislatures.
Yesterday, Maimane unveiled his party policy to take over the government after the 2024 national elections, and announced eight provincial candidates for the premier-elect positions, one of them former SABC radio DJ Big-Boy Moagi of North West.
Moagi was formerly the spokesperson of North West ActionSA provincial leader Kwena Mangope.
Maimane, a former parliamentarian, described his party as the new kid on the block, saying there was no doubt in the minds of South Africans that they needed a new kind of politics to build a prosperous future, not only for the small elite who grew rich under apartheid, or the small elite who have grown rich under the ANC, but for every South African.
“We call it radical centrism: a programme that rejects the politics of us versus them, or left versus right, or rich versus poor, or tribe versus tribe. Rooted in ubuntu, it is the pragmatic future for governance in South Africa.
“As the DA slides to the right (bolstered by the FF+ and others) and the ANC slides to the left (bolstered by the EFF and others), the need for a radical centre bloc that pulls the best out of each is more appropriate than ever,” he said.
Maimane said South Africans were sick and tired of petty politics, mudslinging, and point-scoring, saying the country would need to build consensus around original ideas, creative ideas, and smart ideas to achieve results at scale. And Build One SA would play the anchor tenant role in this national consensus.
“We aim to build a broad coalition by uniting South Africans around a set of shared values in the radical centre of politics. By drawing from good ideas on all sides, we will unite the warring political factions and get on with the business of building South Africa.
“This differs from all other political parties in that radical centrism is by definition not ideologically dogmatic. Rather it is pragmatic, looking to draw the best ideas out and bring all sides together to build consensus on a way forward that benefits the country. It is citizen-centred and agile, listening and adapting to the needs of South Africans,” he said.
Describing his new leadership, Maimane said his team was a diverse group of South Africans who had put their hands up to build this organisation and the country. Of the eight leaders, two are women, six are men; seven are black African and one is coloured. All are under the age of 55, with the youngest just 28.
The eight provincial leaders are Timothy Maluleke in Limpopo, Gauteng’s Nozipho Mbatha, Moagi in the North West, KwaZulu Natal’s Ntokozo Biyela, Maxhoba Buwa in the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga’s Vusumuzi Shongwe, the Western Cape’s (Mudzuli Rakhivhane, and the Northern Cape’s Roger Solomons.
“It is the diversity of background that is the greatest strength of this team. It comprises a former chief of staff to a Cabinet minister, an entrepreneur and business coach, a former Constitutional Court clerk, a radio personality, an engineer, and a former government adviser, to name a few.
“Our provincial leadership illustrates that Build One SA is not a home for recycled or disgruntled politicians. We have been disciplined in not attracting or recruiting that low hanging fruit. If we claim to be different, it cannot be business as usual. We must actually look and feel different.”
Maimane said their model was to recruit talented, passionate, skilled, ethical South Africans into the political fray, to serve their country, saying there were thousands of them locked out and dissuaded from public service.
“Our role is to open the doors of public service to talented and ethical citizens, rather than recycled career politicians,” he said.
Pretoria News