Tshwane mayor Msimanga aims for top post

Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga has thrown his name in the hat to contend for the position of the DA’s federal chairperson.

Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip holds the position.

Trollip said he would be standing for the position again, and that he would make a statement as soon as nominations were opened.

Nominations for the DA’s top leadership positions are expected to open this week. The party’s national congress is set to take place in April.

In an interview with Business Day, Msimanga said he had been approached to stand for the position and that he was considering either standing for federal chairperson or for one of the deputy chairpersons positions. He did, however, indicate that he preferred the federal chairperson position.

“I think we can give more effect to the positions at regional level. As we go towards 2019, there is more work to be done and I think I would really want to take up that job [federal chairperson],” Msimanga said.

He said one of the things the DA would have to do was move away from “bashing” the ANC, and focus more on what the DA had to deliver in the lead-up to the high-stakes 2019 election.

Msimanga said it was important to acknowledge the renewed sense of hope in SA after the election of President Cyril Ramaphosa, but that it was also still important to point out that the same ANC leaders were in office when Jacob Zuma was head of state.

The DA, which was now governing municipalities and metros outside of its stronghold, the Western Cape, could use that broadened experience of implementing its own policies as part of focusing its messaging on what it could bring to the table.

DA chairman in Gauteng John Moodey said he would support Msimanga on whatever ambitions the Tshwane mayor had within the party.