DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga has announced his intention to run for party federal chair to succeed Ivan Meyer.
Msimanga held a media briefing to announce his standing on Friday morning, just minutes before Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis was due to make his own announcement.
Msimanga said he took over as leader in the province at a time when the party had experienced difficulty.
“We had structures that had fallen apart. We had a region that had been decimated … We got them back because we needed people to understand that even when there are issues that they were not happy with, it is better to sit and discuss things frankly, openly and without feeling that you’re not being heard, or feeling that you’re being disrespected. It is that one thing that I’ve always prided myself on being able to do; being able to listen.”
He said the DA was in pole position to take over as the biggest party in South Africa, unseating the ANC. “And this is why I’m putting up my hand up again and saying, ‘This time we will do it.’”
Msimanga said as the leader of the party he would ensure that the party consolidates support and governs in other parts of the country outside the Western Cape.
“This time we will be able, as a collective team with whoever will be lifted as the leader, and this position will be used much more to ensure that we can then consolidate. We can then engage with institutions. We can then go and engage with other organisations as well and say, ‘Can we build a South Africa that we can all be proud of?’”
He said the party needs to reconcile its differences, adding that those differences must not be a barrier but rather something that unites the party and the country.
He said he intends to grow the party’s support in all areas of the country, adding that he will be on the ground with different communities.
“I’m going to be helping and leading that charge that we’re able to then do that we must grow beyond our traditional core, while we protect and retain that core to become the majority party, we must win the majority of voters. That means that we have to align our resources to empower our ground structures, and this is what I want to say to you. These are my offerings. We need to make sure that we align our resources to empower our ground structures, and we need to make sure that we reach each and every community. We need to ensure that our people reflect the diversity of South Africa.”
He said the party has done good work in the media; however, it was still lacking in its reach with all sectors of the South African communities. Msimanga said too often the party’s marketing outperforms its ground structures, arguing that this has to change.
He said the party needed a federal leadership that understands that building structures is what will get the DA to take over the country.
Lauding his own achievements, Msimanga said he had the experience and expertise to take the party forward.
He added that he was passionate about is the rebalancing of power within the DA. He said as a federal party which believes in the devolution of power in government, it should do the same internally.
He added that over time, too much power has been concentrated at the centre while provincial, regional and ground structures have no little voice. He added that the federal council needed to have a more effective voice, much like the federal executive committee.
“ The goal with the widest representation of our structures must be empowered and play and build a much stronger role than it has been happening. Our members must still feel respected in our branches. Our structures must feel valued.”
TimesLIVE
