What's your role in the party?
To make sure all our systems and processes work smoothly and professionally.
How much needs to be done?
It's amazing how quickly, if an organisation loses its direction, systems and processes are among the casualties.
Is it finding its direction now?
Indeed, that's what the weekend's policy conference was about.
Hasn't it just added more confusion?
I'm not surprised that's the perception because most of the media has completely failed to grapple with the essence of what we've done. If voter choice and votes is the key thing a political party is looking for, it has to take policy very, very seriously. The DA takes policy very seriously, policy that is based on values and what we consider to be the best ways for SA to address its core problem. For us the core problem is economic exclusion of a growing majority of people. Therefore we have put a policy on the table to overcome that exclusion.
It's a very different policy to the one you promoted when you were the party leader, isn't it?
Yes.
Have the principles and values that policy was based on been thrown overboard?
No. It's a question of learning what works and what doesn't. Under my leadership we said the ANC's version of BEE can never work, the DA can formulate a version of BEE that will work. But nobody could tell the difference, we couldn't properly even explain it to our own voters. Then we did an in-depth study of the barriers to economic inclusion, and on the basis of that we said it is time to change our policy.
How thoroughly was this policy change canvassed among people on the ground?
More thoroughly than any DA policy has been canvassed ever before. We put our proposals up on our website and anybody, not only members, could read and comment.
Doesn't that exclude the vast majority of people who don't have access to the internet?
If we'd had face-to-face meetings the number of people we'd have been able to reach would also have been minimal.
So you don't have a clue how many people are going to buy this policy at election time?
If you only wanted us to have policies people will buy we'd go out and advocate the death penalty. You have to do policy on the basis of values and principles. If the policies you thought were going to work on the basis of values and principles don't, it would be stupid not to change that policy.
Haven't you changed it into something so complicated many people won't understand it, and it will be hard to implement?
It will be a whole lot simpler to implement than using broad-based BEE as a cover for corrupt cadres to loot the state.
Do you still accept that the need for redress applies overwhelmingly to black people?
Of course. If you're applying nonracial policies and address the barriers to inclusion, 97% at least of the people who will be supported by those policies are black. But you're applying nonracial criteria to do it.
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