ANC-lite Maimane

Mmusi Maimane has over the past two years wanted to “transform the DA”, to make it more “inclusive” and attract more black voters.

Basically, he went for ANC-lite policies — the slippery road of black economic empowerment and affirmative action — and justified it by saying being black was a proxy for disadvantage. Yet in the light of the Zondo state-capture inquiry, and the state of the economy and state-owned enterprises and municipal structures, perhaps it is time for reflection on policies that discriminate, chase away skills and allow opportunists to run riot.

Maimane stupidly supported Ashwin Willemse when he raged against Nick Mallett and Naas Botha, yet a year later no commission, court or internal investigation has found any racial bias on the part of the two sports commentators. Then we have the matter of the poor grade R teacher at Laerskool Schweizer-Reneke, whom Maimane and his youth leader threw under the bus before again being shown to be wrong.

If Maimane had managed to grow the DA in the black community with his cheap attacks on his traditional voter base, then begrudgingly we could accept it as a means to an end. Unfortunately for him, that has not been the case; he lost 400,000 white voters who felt unwelcome, and gained no meaningful black support at a time when the ANC government was reeling through corruption and state-capture issues.

The DA has taken its core middle-class voters for granted for years, and it is now losing them to weak parties with no clear policies. The liberal DA resonated with minorities and many black people when it stuck to the liberal value of equality for all.

Maimane is a lightweight, and in politics you are judged by electoral success. Now with his car and house issues, his judgment is looking weak. Time for him to fall on his sword.

Rob Tiffin Cape Town