Mmusi Maimane sets sights on winning Gauteng for DA
Wannabe premier says voters ‘hungry for change’
THE Democratic Alliance will win Gauteng. So says the party’s national spokesman, Mmusi Maimane, who was selected as the party’s candidate for premier of the province on Friday.
Maimane said research commissioned by his party revealed that Gauteng voters were “hungry for change” and that the DA’s support was growing ahead of next year’s general elections.
“I think the province is gearing itself for change. The entrance of new political parties is an indication of change and that people are tired of the [status quo],” he said.
Maimane said his party would do away with “cadre deploy- ment” in Gauteng to improve service delivery.
“We hold a view that building a competent state would make it possible to build strong institutions so that government is able to deliver,” said Maimane.
Incumbent premier Nomvula Mokonyane has focused on attracting big business to the province, but Maimane plans to give more support to small businesses by eliminating red tape and other hindrances.
“She [Mokonyane] has committed herself to tolling [freeways],” he said. “Tolling will diminish economic opportunities. It will harm the very essence of business development.”
Maimane — who is the DA’s caucus leader in the Johannesburg council — beat Jack Bloom, the party’s leader in the provincial legislature, to gain the Gauteng nomination.
The DA, which holds power in the Western Cape, hopes to unseat the ANC in Gauteng and the Northern Cape next year.
The ruling party appears to be vulnerable in both provinces. The DA believes the high number of service-delivery protests in Gauteng is an indication that voters are ready to switch sides.
For its part, the ANC plans to increase its share of the vote in the province from 64% in 2009 to 70% next year.
By choosing Maimane, who was born and raised in Dob- sonville, Soweto, the DA has confirmed its intention to take the fight to the ANC by targeting the black youth vote.
Maimane has repeatedly claimed that he appeals to all races and sectors.
He told the Sunday Times that as premier of Gauteng he would unite South Africans of all races and try to recreate the spirit of the dawn of democracy in 1994.
“I want to create a South Africa that is not racist,” he said.
Maimane was the DA’s mayoral candidate in Johannesburg in 2011. He is credited with having helped to increase DA support in the city from about 20% to 35% in that election. He is one of three deputy federal chairmen in the party.