‘His opponents undermine him at their peril’
MMUSI Maimane’s ascent to leader of the DA may have ushered in a shift in the political landscape.
He has brains, age and pigmentation on his side. That he is where he is today is proof enough that his mother did not raise a blockhead.
It takes a person with brains to beat party veterans such as Wilmot James, whom he defeated in the race for the DA leadership position.
Listening to him argue in Parliament and in public, he certainly has a more impressive IQ than your average politician. His opponents undermine him at their own peril.
It is said the quality of a leader is reflected, among other things, by the standards he sets for himself. With two Master’s degrees under his belt, Maimane has set himself high standards educationally.
In a country where the “pursuit of a tender” has gained pre-eminence and the value of education and intellectual output is increasingly being undermined, Maimane might appeal to the educated class – which is increasing in numbers – from all racial backgrounds.
Among some of the most educated political leaders in the world today are the likes of US President Barack Obama, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the UK’s David Cameron. Maimane is in good company.
At 35, he has age on his side. South Africa is predominantly a “young” country with most of its nearly 52 million people under 39 years.
Critically, South Africa’s 2013 population estimates indicated there were 10.9 million eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 29 – which made up 34% of the voting population. This age cohort presents big opportunities and will no doubt be Maimane’s main fishing pond.
When I watched the announcement of his DA leadership, the only old (and white) person I saw on stage was Helen Zille. There is a seismic shift of age and race within the DA which could be reflective of our demographic in wider society.
Looking at the state of youth politics in our country today, there is a perceptible sense of lack of interest by young people in the ideological bureaucracy of the old Left, let alone of the right.
Young protesters do not want or need anybody to be their voice – and this we saw at UCT recently when they campaigned for the fall of Cecil John Rhodes’s statue. Their energy and creativity find expression through social media, rather than through moribund formal organisational structures.
So even Maimane does not have a guarantee over this constituency, but he might just be the last hope Parliamentary and formal politics has to offer the young.
His campaign managers and strategists will have to work hard to understand and connect with this fast-moving audience. But one thing is certain – that audience is redefining itself and rejecting the old deferential structures of politics.
The dissolution of the ANC Youth League and expulsion of some of its leaders was an early manifestation of this phenomenon. Will Maimane read what is fundamentally the reimagining of South African youth politics and take advantage of it? Only time will tell.
While Maimane stands for nonracialism, the reality is that the politics of race still matters in South Africa. The racial identity of the candidate is a big factor.
South Africa is not unique in this regard. Obama won 93% of the black vote in the US – with a sizeable chunk of the minorities and women.
Maimane’s rise as the first black leader of the DA portends a new electoral reality which could see a new progressive coalition emerging.
Such a coalition will constitute educated, middle-class black and white people, the youth and minorities. But I would urge him not to lock out the poor and marginalised. It will make our politics interesting and give the voter real choice.
I wish Maimane all the best as he enters this new phase of his career.
McCauley is the president of Rhema Family Churches and the co-chairman of National Religious Leaders Council.