DA ready and excited

Your editorial opinion on what the DA supposedly needs to get its groove back was rather incoherent (DA needs to find its mojo, July 17).

It starts out correctly by mentioning the DA’s victories in the 2016 local government elections, when the party was able to wrest three metropolitan municipalities away from the ANC, and how the DA has enjoyed an unmatched record of good governance and service delivery since taking the reins in the Western Cape in 2009. This is what makes the headline, and certainly the intention, of the editorial so bizarre. It failed to grasp how politics works, and how the DA responds to political challenges.

It is no secret that the DA, like most major parties, has faced some challenges over the past few months, but the difference between us and others lies in how we have confronted them.

The editorial cites the party’s handling of the Patricia de Lille matter as an example of why the DA is “losing ground”, but nothing is further from the truth.

The DA understands how confusing this time has been for our supporters. No political party enjoys a protracted public disagreement with any of its public representatives.

But the reason this has played out so publicly is because of the DA’s commitment to accountability and protecting the high standard of leadership South Africans have come to expect from our executive office-holders.

Unlike the writer of the editorial, we believe voters see this and give the DA credit for seeking to uphold its values by addressing maladministration and allegations of corruption where we govern. Unlike our opponents, the DA does not lack the political grit to make these hard decisions. Where we govern we always place the more than 16-million South Africans who enjoy some form of DA governance ahead of internal party politics.

The 2019 election will be the most hotly contested since the advent of democracy. The article states, quite rightly, that the ANC has failed to capitalise on the removal of Jacob Zuma, and this means it’s anybody’s game. The DA has not lost its mojo, it stands ready and excited to take its message of achieving One SA for All to every corner of the country. Game on!

Solly Malatsi

DA national spokesperson