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Democratic Alliance leader, John Steenhuisen, has taken a swipe at the formation of a new political party, Action SA, by former DA mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba.
Delivering the keynote address at the DA’s historic virtual Eastern Cape congress on Saturday, Steenhuisen said that the only way to end corruption is to unite behind the strongest opposition party, rather than splitting the vote.
He said this was especially so when that split vote goes to a breakaway from the DA, with individuals who are simply carrying DA ideologies and plans onto another platform.
“And such is the appeal of the shiny and new that these small parties inevitably end up taking away some votes from the strongest opposition party, the DA. Every time a voter does this, the net result is the strengthening of the ANC.”
“As soon as the elections are over, voters who tested the waters with one of these new start-ups realise they got zero bang for their buck from a one-man party with a regional footprint, and they return to the DA.”
“But, by then the damage is done for the next five years. The momentum is halted and the ANC is bolstered,” Steenhuisen said.
The interim DA leader said the only one way to unseat the ANC nationally, is to weaken them in every consecutive election, “by pushing them below 50% wherever possible and relegating them to the opposition benches in municipal, metro and provincial governments.”
Meanwhile, speaking at the launch of his new party, Mashaba said he was ready to take action and take back the future of the country.
"Today, I stand before you to offer you hope in the face of despair. I stand before you today to launch a new future for our country in the face of our national depression. I stand before you today to tell you with a deep sense of conviction that we will emerge from the depths of despair and enter a new era of prosperity."
The former DA mayor of Johannesburg, however, said he was under no illusion that the road ahead would not be easy.
"We face the grim prospect of 3 to 7 million more South Africans joining the ranks of the unemployed in the wake of Covid19. We face trade unions that will protect their members at the expense of the unemployed,” he said.
Mashaba went on to say that his new party will face political parties who want to divide us because they are threatened by the positive change that we threaten to bring. “However, if there’s one thing that I’ve learned by engaging South Africans is that together we will overcome and prevail,” he declared.
Mashaba resigned as a DA member and Johannesburg mayor in October 2019 after Helen Zille was elected chairperson of the party’s federal council.
