Contenders clash in lively debate

DA leadership contenders Mmusi Maimane and Wimot James clashed last night during a televised debate, on whether the Bill of Rights can be changed by referendum, with James accusing Maimane of not understanding the constitution.

Maimane pronounced himself in favour of a referendum on issues like the death penalty and gay rights, whereas James said these were basic rights in a liberal democracy, and could not be changed.

Both contenders are personally in favour of gay rights, and opposed to the death penalty.

James and Maimane face off in an election in Port Elizabeth on Sunday, when delegates at the DA’s national congress will elect a successor to leader Helen Zille.

The debate, on DStv pay channel kykNET, was fast-paced, with James called on by moderator Waldimar Pelser to explain his view that rape accused should not get bail.

James said he believed that, in the case of people accused of violent crime, it should be tougher to get bail than in other cases.

Maimane said South Africans were accused wrongly of too many things, and that assuming guilt by not granting bail would mean returning to apartheidstyle law enforcement.

Maimane was grilled on his closeness to the Liberty Church, of which the views do not always conform to the constitution.

He said luckily the church did not make the laws of the land and that he did not agree with everything his church taught, but he did not elaborate on the points with which he disagreed.