Maimane gears up for Vision2029
DA leader, Mmusi Maimane spoke to Review yesterday, shortly after arriving in the city as part of the DA's Freedom, Fairness and Opportunity tour across all nine provinces.
POLOKWANE – DA leader, Mmusi Maimane spoke to Review yesterday, shortly after arriving in the city as part of the DA’s Freedom, Fairness and Opportunity tour across all nine provinces.
Maimane, set to launch the party’s Vision2029 campaign in Soweto next week, said prospects for growth in Limpopo were ample.
WATCH INTERVIEW:“My dad was less educated than me, but much smarter” .@MmusiMaimane #Polokwane https://t.co/4dJYa047Td pic.twitter.com/YMR6Mr1jQa
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“We have a really strong leadership in the province for the issues we are up against. We launched our election manifesto in Polokwane before the last election, and experienced a surge of momentum.”
Maimane said he had been well received in the province on a number of occasions, including on a recent visit to Mogalakwena. “All my previous visits have been exceptional. My experience is the same – people ask who can assist them, and look to the DA to do just that.”
According to Maimane, citizens have had enough of corruption, ineffective governance and empty promises, “they want change”. He pointed out two key issues of priority: that of unemployment among young people and the question of how to build a non-racial South Africa.
“One of the mistakes Apartheid made was to teach people that we are fundamentally different. If you are white, you were taught to believe certain things and told you were better. The same with black people. We were boxed in in terms of thinking processes.”
He said if citizens wanted a prosperous future for their children, they should realise there is one race namely, “the human race”.
“I understand we have a difficult history and I don’t deny that history. The DA wants people to come together to a mutual understanding towards a need for better service delivery.”
Addressing a question of Limpopo traditionally being an ANC stronghold, Maimane said he and the party were up for the challenge.
“It is a challenge, but I am up to it. Even people in Limpopo don’t accept that the president lives in Nkandla, but they don’t have homes.
“There are many people who say if the ANC fails, it is to the benefit of the DA. We believe if the ANC fails, it is to the detriment of the entire country and not just a certain group of people.”
He highlighted that the DA is, in his words, making a tone shift.
“Instead of criticising the ANC and its failures, we are proposing to citizens what a country governed by the DA will look like. This is what our Vision2029 Campaign entails.
“We want to answer the question of how the DA will ensure quality education, and sort out crime, how the party plans to do this effectively.”
Maimane feels strongly about the DA making inroads countrywide in view of future elections.
“When liberation movements fall, they don’t fall in small steps. They fall in big steps, and often in a short space of time. Liberation movements that have no policy to project the future will fail. We can’t all be fighting about a better yesterday. The ANC has run out of ideas on how to take the country forward.”
Working towards an all inclusive society and country is a recurring theme in the conversation.
“There are people who still hold on to the belief of a better life for all, even years after 1994. I note the pain of those who lived under Apartheid’s oppression. If they still vote for the ANC, it’s because of that painful history and that, I acknowledge.”
He said his father, who also lived under Apartheid, was less educated than him, but much smarter, “he knew the efforts and the struggle were all for the good of his grandchildren”.
The ANC, according to Maimane, fulfilled its vision as a liberation movement in 1994. Now, he said, the ruling party was battling to articulate a vision for 2024.
After addressing the press, Maimane was set to visit the Polokwane taxi rank, Disteneng, the Capricorn FET College, Seshego and Limpopo Mall. He was also set to address businesspeople of the city on Wednesday evening on the route the DA views business opportunities in mapping a way forward.
