JULIE LEIBOWITZ
Maimane told community members at the Sandton Shul on 7 April that it was “unthinkable” that South Africa had removed its ambassador from Israel and was downgrading its embassy in the country to a liaison office. This, he said, was not the way to contribute towards a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, which was what the DA believes is the way forward.
He pinpointed South Africa’s “new friends”, such as Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, saying this shows how our foreign policy is typical of liberation movements. These movements tend to be archaic and backward looking, and value historic ties rather than looking to the future.
South Africa’s foreign policy should be based on human rights and trade, he said. It should be outward looking, and accept that countries all over the world have solutions which can help us with problems such as business creation and water management.
The theme of moving away from a liberation-era, dominant-party, “centrist” mentality to a coalition government that fosters individuality, enterprise, and progress was threaded throughout Maimane’s speech.
He hit out at the African National Congress (ANC’s) “racially aligned voting” and the party’s “need to keep convincing people that they need to be liberated”.
He said that South Africa had experienced many liberation cycles, including Afrikaner liberation from colonial rule and African national liberation from apartheid. He insisted that to continue on this path simply wasn’t good enough. “We need to break the cycles of national liberation towards a country of individuals fighting for their rights,” Maimane said, calling for political reform and “an end to the politics of populism and division”.
“After race division comes religious division,” Maimane said, “after that comes tribal, cultural and language division. When your rights are taken away, my rights are removed. So long as you have a green passport and so long as G-d has given me air, I will continue to fight for your rights as citizens and as Jews.”
The DA’s policy of “one SA for all” goes against that tide, according to Maimane. He pointed to “giants” of the past such as Helen Suzman, who for many years stood as a lone voice against apartheid, and proudly fought for people who did not look and sound like her.
He also praised the wider Jewish community for its “immense contribution” to the country’s enterprise development and charitable ventures, saying that the “DA needs to partner with people like [Discovery founder and Chief Executive] Adrian Gore”.
Maimane called for voters to undermine the ANC’s majority at the polls rather than support President Cyril Ramaphosa’s “reform” programme.
He asked what “new dawn” existed in a party in which men like David Mabuza and Ace Magashule still ran the ANC, saying, “If we reward the current party, we are telling it that it is OK to steal from us.”
Voting for the DA “would force the ANC into a coalition, and a non-racial, constitutional rule of law”. This, he said, would result in a more capable state and the eradication of corruption, among other things. “Change is tough, but it’s better than a criminal syndicate running the country.”
Maimane also called for economic reform, pointing out that four out of every 10 adults are unemployed, and South Africa has the highest percentage of youth unemployment in the world. “We can’t live with an economy that leaves out so many,” he said.
“I am animated by the dream of putting a job in every home,” he said, pointing to his own modest background. His father was a factory worker and his mother, a cashier, was frequently unemployed. Growing up, income was insecure.
Key to reforming the economy is the need to move away from the “dogma of state-owned enterprises”. Maimane questioned the need for South African Airways, or Eskom in its current form.
“Keeping the lights on” is an election platform of the DA. The party is pushing for the diversification of power supply to independent power producers, and the ability for municipalities to source energy directly from such producers. It’s an approach that puts cities, not the state, at the centre of enterprise, tourism, and revenue generation.
“The state doesn’t need to be at the centre of development. We need to allow our cities to play at the centre,” he said. “Our cities are beautiful, and attract tourists. We need electronic visas and less cumbersome regulation. We need tax cuts for manufacturers and exporters, and a fund for enterprise development.”
On this theme, Maimane turned to Johannesburg and Tshwane, cities in which the DA recently came to power. He berated the corruption and infrastructure backlogs the party had inherited from years of ANC government.
“I’m a resident of Johannesburg,” he said. “I know about the lights. Johannesburg inherited an infrastructure deficit of R170 billion, and has been able to stop R18 billion-worth of corruption. More than 90% of its bridges are unsafe to drive on. It will take 17 years to catch up.”
He described the suburb of Alexandra as facing an infrastructure backlog of more than 20 years, a situation that “can’t be fixed instantly”. Tshwane, which was R2 billion in the red, now has a budget surplus.
Though it was “a long walk, we will get there,” Maimane said, calling for stronger police and intelligence and a provincial, not national-level police force to deal with crime.
In conclusion, Maimane called on the community to do two things: first, keep contributing to the country, help to get it going, and don’t lose hope and emigrate. Second, Jewish South Africans should vote – preferably for the DA and its vision for a non-racial future, where their rights will be protected.
