Mmusi Maimane, the leader of the Democratic Alliance, has underlined the successes achieved by the political party in the local municipal elections in an interview on CNN.<\/p>\n
The DA claimed control of several major metros including the City of Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay and Johannesburg following the results of the municipal elections on 3 August, 2016.<\/p>\n
Maimane spoke to Christiane Amanpour, chief international correspondent for CNN and host of CNN International’s nightly interview program Amanpour.<\/p>\n
The host asked Maimane: “What do you attribute your victories to? Is it the anti-establishment feeling that is sort of going around the world or is it step-by-step strategy on your part?”<\/p>\n
Maimane said that in many ways the DA sat back and looked at the economic climate in South Africa. “It is absolutely a dire situation when you\u2019ve got nine-million South Africans battling to find work.”<\/p>\n
He said that the party needed to be clear about offering an economic plan- a plan that said, \u201cHow do we stimulate micro-enterprise? How do we make sure South Africa is investor-friendly? How do we take the democratic project to a point at which, when we talk about change, it\u2019s a material change from the hegemony that the ANC is, which has gotten the idea of a closed crony society to one that is open?”<\/p>\n
He said that the plan needed to say: \u201cHow can we take the big cities like Johannesburg and make sure that they\u2019re investor-friendly?\u201d<\/p>\n
“South Africans heard that message and in fact, our election campaign really anchored itself on the idea of change, and people came out and did that. We also, as I said earlier on, made an offer on non-racialism.<\/p>\n
Maimane told the CNN host that one of the critical distinguishing features was that both the ANC and the EFF went out and said: \u201cYou\u2019d have to vote as an expression of your race as opposed to an expression of your ideas and ideals.\u201d<\/p>\n
“We took it and said: ‘Non-racialism is still an anchor of our democratic project’. It was proven that many South Africans still have a great appetite for it,” Maimane said.<\/p>\n
Watch a clip from the interview:<\/p>\n