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DA leader Mmusi Maimane has warned that he has an “entire legal fraternity” waiting to act should the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) fail to conduct free and fair elections.
Speaking at Capital Park Primary school in Tshwane this morning – where DA mayoral candidate Solly Msimanga cast his vote – Maimane said that the party had recruited more volunteers than ever before to ensure there are no irregularities at the polls.
Today’s watershed election will be Maimane’s first as the leader of the party – he took over after Helen Zille stepped down in 2014.
“It is a historic election, we take nothing for granted. Today for the first time the DA will have over 104 000 people volunteering for these elections because we want to watch, we want to monitor the IEC. We want to assure South Africans that we are watching everything. I am glad polling stations – the ones I have been to so far – are open. So it seems – from a process point of view – that things have started off well.”
The DA are among the parties that have laid complaints with the IEC this year regarding the violation of the commission’s code of conduct. In recent weeks the party has said that they are not entirely convinced that the commission would be able to conduct free and fair elections, but that they would give them the benefit of the doubt.
“We have an entire legal fraternity waiting in line, we are leaving no stone unturned. We are not going to a penalty shoot-out in this election; we must go and really ask everybody to cast their vote so that the will of the people can be expressed freely and fairly,” Maimane said.
The DA will look to make a dent in the ANC support, particularly in the three Gauteng metros, as well as in Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape. Their best chance is in Nelson Mandela Bay where they may enter into a coalition with smaller parties like the UDM. But victory or disappointment will only be known later this week once the votes have been tallied. Their mayoral candidate, Athol Trollip, will face off against the ANC’s current mayor Danny Jordaan – who was roped in last year to try and save the metro.
This week the EFF pulled a rabbit out of a hat when they met with former president Thabo Mbeki, who has not campaigned for the ruling party this election, saying he had other commitments. But Maimane said today that he is not fazed by the stunt that has given a boost to the EFF’s campaign.
“I have had a number of meetings with former president Thabo Mbeki; I didn’t feel like I needed to make it a media stunt. As I have always said, I meet with leaders all across. He is a former president, he has a role to play in our democracy. I have met with him to speak to him about some of the prospects for South Africa’s future. How do we work an economic plan that delivers for the people of this country?” Maimane said.
“It is part of my work to ensure that we develop as leaders of this country because at the end of the day what matters is that we deliver the calibre of leadership that can deliver for this country.”
