Maimane takes his vision on the road

New DA leader Mmusi Maimane will embark on a monthlong tour to preach his party’s new vision.

The tour will kick off on Wednesday at Fort Hare University, the alma mater of many struggle politicians, where the DA Student Organisation last month scored an unprecedented victory over the ANC-aligned SA Students’ Congress.

Maimane’s new chief of staff, former DA CEO Jonathan Moakes, said the tour would end in the launch of the DA’s Vision 2029 document in Gauteng on June 13.

“We aim to visit all nine provinces to host town hall meetings, street meetings and house meetings,” he said.

Maimane’s tour is dubbed the Freedom, Fairness and Opportunity Tour and will be accompanied by a social-media campaign.

Despite fierce and sometimes scathing debates on liberalism and the party’s future direction in the run-up to last weekend’s party congress, Moakes denied the party was divided.

“The DA emerged from the congress united by our values and vision for South Africa. Everyone is behind Mmusi and the leadership elected at congress,” he said.

Moakes stepped down as CEO in December, but remained in the DA part time while he was also doing “some international consulting” and “some work for a market-research company”.

He will run Maimane’s DA office and support him in conveying the new vision.

Maimane’s first week in office was marred by a storm over remarks he made when he was a preacher at the Liberty Church.

In a video clip of the sermon, leaked to a TV station, Maimane describes gays and Muslims as sinners.

Although there was an outcry from gay rights activists and people outside the DA, a gay DA MP said there was no outcry inside the party because members “know Mmusi”.

In the past few weeks, there has been a heated debate inside the DA over its values charter, which detractors call the family values charter.

The document, drawn up after extensive polling and research by the DA among voters, says the values of a family are the cornerstone of a strong society.

A DA MP, Belinda Bozzoli, said that, as a sociologist, she did not believe families were important for a strong society.

“Liberal values are very important and conservative values are very worrying – but our population is very conservative.”