DA to up the ante on ANC
THE DA intends to use the crisis facing the ANC to gain strong ground in the run-up to the 2019 general election.
Party leader Mmusi Maimane spoke in Durban yesterday, following a two-day DA federal council meeting at the weekend.
Joined by the council’s chairperson James Selfe, Maimane said the DA’s polling data revealed that the ANC was polling below 50%, showing the opposition party had gained good ground, and adding that the party would use this to unseat the ruling party in 2019.
“It’s time for all South Africans to unite against the corrupt Gupta-led ANC and to vote for change at the next elections.
“Over the next 700 days the DA’s primary focus will be to prepare for national government and to mount an election campaign of unprecedented scale and reach,” he said.
Maimane added: “The 2019 elections will define whether South Africa can turn around our present decline and grow to be the prosperous modern democracy that we envisage.
“We know many voters are realising day by day that the ANC cannot self-correct, and we are determined that elections in 2019 will see the end of the ANC’s occupation of the Union Buildings.”
To do this, Maimane said, the DA would need to develop a policy offer that was compelling and credible, highlighting that the council had discussed a number of key policy areas for further development, which included creating jobs and focusing on the economy, education, land reform, healthcare and human settlements.
He noted that of equal importance was for the DA to ensure there was an expanded pool of diverse and hard-working DA candidates for the 2019 national and provincial elections.
“The DA is the only political party that rigorously assesses the performance of all its public representatives and holds them to a performance agreement. We believe that public representatives must be accountable and available. They must be well informed on their portfolios, involved in their communities and must contribute positively in their legislatures.
“We have worked on streamlining our performance evaluation system. And we have launched our new political performance assessment system,” he said.
Maimane spoke of the party’s achievements, such as its programmes in the Western Cape. Premier Helen Zille was praised by the Auditor-General for being actively engaged in helping to improve audit outcomes as well as delivering sound, clean financial management of public monies, he said.
“Time is running out to save South Africa,” Maimane warned.