‘South Africans defining the country they want to live in’

DA leader Mmusi Maimane said this election was an expression of 22 years of democracy, where South Africans were able to define the kind of country they wanted to live in.

Port Elizabeth – Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane took a flight to Nelson Mandela Bay on Wednesday after he cast his vote in Johannesburg.

Maimane was accompanied by DA mayoral candidate Athol Trollip and together they conducted an oversight visit to a polling station at the St Martins De Porres Catholic Church in Gelvan Park.

Speaking to reporters, Maimane said Wednesday was an expression of South Africa’s 22-year-old democracy, where South Africans, black and white, young and old, were able to define the kind of country they wanted to live in.

He added that Wednesday’s local government elections were about choosing councillors, mayors and local government and choosing the future direction of the country.

Responding to a question around whether the DA had received funding from people who supported Israel’s continued occupation in Palestine, Maimane said that if the DA were to take over from government the party would advance the cause of a two-state solution in the Middle East.

Maimane slammed the idea of donors being supportive of a “particular view”.

“South Africa has proved historically that through a negotiated settlement we can find an appropriate outcome, even through the most difficult circumstance of apartheid. The Middle East crisis has gone on for a long time; ours is to say, let’s get to a negotiating space so we can find a peaceful solution. Everybody stands on that stand. The suggestion that there are donors who are particularly supportive of a particular view is a misnomer and not true.

“As far as I know, we have never sat with donors and said you support this particular cause so that we can put infrastructure that ensures there’s illegal occupation or anything like that. I stand with South Africans who say let’s negotiate on a two-state solution,” said Maimane.

Maimane said that he did the majority of the fundraising for the party and it was never done on the basis of canvassing an opinion from people who said a particular movement needed to be supported.

“We’ve never gone and canvassed an opinion from people who say no, no you must support this particular movement. I do the majority of the fundraising for the DA and none of that has ever been the case, our position has always been consistent, it’s consistent with the UN [United Nations], it’s consistent with the South African Parliament.

“The South African Parliament resolves to say we stand on a two-state solution. Political parties that stand on a hypocritical line, who then say Parliament puts this position, but we will adopt that side or that side, I think it’s dangerous,” he said.

African News Agency