DA political school lays the groundwork

FOLLOWING its incredible performance during last month’s municipal elections, where it wrested several crucial metros from ANC control, the DA is already gearing up for the national elections in 2019.

In Joburg, the organisation holds a political school every second Sunday where its activists and members discuss tactics they would use in the build-up to the general election, where they hope to completely oust the ANC from power.

DA MP and head of the Joburg political school, Makashule Gana, told The Star that at their gatherings, they also discuss strategies aimed at consolidating their power base in the metros already under their control in the country’s richest province.

These include the metros of Joburg and Tshwane, and Midvaal Municipality.

The DA was also preoccupied with relaunching branches in the province in an effort to strengthen them going into 2019.

“We are preparing the ground for the 2019 elections. The next session (of the political school) is on October 9. Our discussions centre around what needs to be done now that the political environment has changed, especially here in Gauteng.

“We are no longer an opposition party but a party in government.

“Therefore, as political leaders and activists, we need to adopt a different posture from the one we had on August 2. We can’t continue to behave like an opposition party. We need to show that we are ready to govern Gauteng,” said Gana.

He said they wanted to extend their tentacles in other provinces where they still occupied the opposition benches.

Gana said the turnout at the political schools had been great. “An average of 40 people come to our political school discussions in Joburg. People who want to contribute to us winning and who want to learn from one another are welcome.”