Wilmot’s years of experience will put party on sound footing
THE Democratic Alliance is the only political party that can stop the collapse of South Africa. For the new leader it is therefore of the greatest importance to ensure that we keep to our vision, do not drift or falter, strengthen our backbone, never lose our nerve and keep to strategy. I am standing as leader of the DA because I want to take the party in a new direction by building support across the diversity of our nation by focusing on issues that matter to voters, most importantly the lack of jobs, crime, poor education, inadequate healthcare and shelter.
I have spent the last two weeks speaking to delegates about my vision for the future of the party, which is rooted in six commitments that will take us forward by building:
A party of principle: Being firm on principles that include the advancement of freedom, respect for diversity, non-racialism, a market economy and a welfare net for the poor.
We will fight for those principles every minute, every day, every week, every year, and never stop fighting;
A unified party: We will listen more, include more, treat members with dignity and respect, even in moments of disagreement, and welcome contrary views.
We will encourage rather than stifle debate. We will build people up, rather than break people down.
We will restore internal democracy and make sure decisions are taken by constitutional structures.
We will review the leadership structure to ensure that there is genuine opportunity for those with talent, ability and drive to rise on merit to the top. We will hugely invest in training all our young leaders;
A growing party: We are a party of opposition. We are a party of government. We must become a party of opportunity. We will fight the new indignity of our time, which is the indignity of not having work.
The struggle for dignity defined the struggle against apartheid. The struggle for dignity today is the struggle for work.
We will become an alternative to the ANC, not an alternate ANC.
We will have a policy platform that is different from the ANC.
We will focus on the DA’s Growth and Jobs Plan, rather than flirt with the ANC’s National Development Plan.
And we will do this so that we create opportunity for those who were shut out in the past;
A fully funded party: To compete with the ANC we need substantially more money. Elections are becoming extremely expensive.
With my extensive network, I am able to connect with funders with whom I have built up trust over the years and, with a credible plan for the DA’s growth, can secure unprecedented financial flows into the party;
and A winning party: We have an excellent operation in our party machine, dubbed the Blue Machine. But it is not perfect. We will massively invest in the “ground war” at constituency level.
We will stop the obsession with “box ticking” by reviewing the performance management system known as PDMS, as well as the tithing system, so that public representatives, especially councillors, are not out of pocket.
We will ensure that where we govern, we govern well, as we have, so that we can show that we don’t just talk about the dream, we are able to deliver the dream.
This is how we will win more municipalities in 2016, more provinces in 2019, and that is how we will take the Union Buildings.
And the purpose of winning is to better serve South Africans, especially those in need and excluded from the mainstream of economic life by apartheid and subsequent exclusionary practices in the economy that created a world of insiders – those with a job and home – and outsiders – those with neither a job nor a home. Nelson Mandela Bay is within our sights. We will use our experience gained in governing the City of Cape Town to turn around the Nelson Mandela Bay metro, a city wrecked by the ANC.
We can turn the city into a manufacturing colossus and firmly plug it into the global trade network.
The car and related industries of the Eastern Cape is a great place to start a rapid expansion in manufacturing by making the coastline areas that include Nelson Mandela Bay, Coega and Buffalo City cost-competitive and extremely efficient trading ports.
To do this requires the good governance and excellent service delivery that the DA has perfected in the City of Cape Town.