DA has proved me right, says Mmusi Maimane

Former DA leader Mmusi Maimane says the outcomes of the party's policy conference last week have vindicated his decision to resign last year.

The DA adopted a resolution at the digital conference that it does not recognise the existence of race. And party insiders indicated that the DA would not support any legislation and policies that seek to address the socioeconomic injustices of apartheid.

Maimane said the DA's decision would further drive black voters from the party and was central to the reasons why he quit the official opposition.

"If the policies that are now being presented cannot address the injustices of the past, it will create the further polarisation of society because the centre of politics is now left vacant. So to me that is why many of us felt this was no longer a place for us," said Maimane.

"I left for no other reason other than the fact that it became very clear to me that that is where the direction of the organisation would go."

I left for no other reason other than the fact that it became very clear to me that that is where the direction of the organisation would go.

Maimane, who is now "chief activist" of a civil society body called the One South Africa Movement, said the failure to recognise the injustices of the past and how that affected race relations in SA was dangerous to the stability of the country.

"The lesson I'm learning is that SA consists of diverse races; do not be apologetic about that fact, deal with the injustices of the past so that we can build a harmonised society. If you don't deal with that injustice there will never be peace in this country."

Maimane said this was one of the reasons why the One South Africa Movement was attracting support from a diverse group of South Africans disgruntled with ideological politics.

"The encouraging thing is that it's not only a diversity of race," he said.

"The reason why political parties fail is that they attract politicians. One has been able to attract business people, and faith-based people, to civic society, and that's the space we want to occupy and work within, because when you are within that space, you are able to offer South Africans something truly fresh."

Maimane said his project of mobilising independent candidates to contest municipal elections next year was progressing well.

"The problem at the moment is that we vote for politicians who move from party to party like we vote for soccer players - how do you vote today for somebody who believes one thing, tomorrow they believe something else?"

Maimane's movement is due to launch a campaign tomorrow dubbed The Party is Over, which aims to educate citizens about the credibility of political parties.