Maimane, Mashaba head for same goal… fixing SA

Former Democratic Alliance (DA) bigwigs Herman Mashaba and Mmusi Maimane may be walking separate paths, but both seem to be headed for the same goal and political home as they pursue what they call a “project to fix South Africa”.

Mashaba plans to establish a political party to contest the 2021 local government elections.

Maimane has been working to establish a Movement for One South Africa, an initiative seeking to build a broad coalition of political parties and civil society that share values and principles and “could collectively work to fix South Africa and realise our country’s potential”.

Mashaba last month launched The People’s Dialogue, which allowed the broader population and civil society to express their views and aspirations for South Africa and its future.

It began online while Mashaba visited various parts of the country to listen to people. He said since its launch, over 13.7 million South Africans have been reached across various social media platforms, resulting in close to one million engagements.

In a joint statement, Mashaba and Maimane yesterday said the message from participants in the initiative was clear: that while dialogue was important, it must lead to action and a viable political alternative.

“Both [Maimane and Mashaba’s] initiatives have the common goal of fixing our country and building a SA that works for all its people. Importantly, we do not see these as competing initiatives,” the joint statement said.

“While Herman is focused on building a political party that can contest local government elections in 2021, Mmusi is dedicated to the objective of building a national movement that can unite forces to fix our country.”

Maimane’s current approach is similar to the one proposed by United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa.

He advocated for a multiparty national convention akin to the Convention for a Democratic SA also involving civil society to discuss the country’s future. He believed a government of national unity was the best option for South Africa.

Alternatively, Holomisa said, the future of the country’s politics lies in coalition politics and not single-party domination.

– ericn@citizen

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.