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Much has been written since the beginning of the year about the state of the Democratic Alliance and our 2019 electoral chances.
Most of the writings have focused on how good Cyril Ramaphosa has been and how he has drastically reduced our chances of bringing the ANC below 50% nationally and winning Gauteng.
If one was to believe what has been written thus far, the 2019 elections are a mere formality, the ANC will walk the elections with opposition parties at best growing marginally or at worst regressing.
This analysis could not be further from the truth.
The chances of the DA winning Gauteng haven’t diminished at all. Actually a closer analysis of the recent voter registration show that it will be neck and neck.
Granted if the elections were held when Ramaphoria was at its peak in early March, our chances would have looked slim.
The good thing is that Ramaphoria is starting to fade and, increasingly, South Africans are judging him on his big promises.
As I reflected on the first 10 weeks of the year and the lead up to the DA congress in the first week of April it dawned on me that we are actually the party of the future.
Too many times we are hard on ourselves especially when one follows social media.
People have been quick to find fault about the DA and we have been slow to offer a counter of what makes us the party of the future.
As a way to test this particular aspect, I asked the DA Political School that I moderate in Johannesburg to discuss or reflect on what is good about the DA and what makes us proud to be DA.
I purposefully gave the instruction that for this session we should look at the positives about ourselves and not allow our opponents to define us.
There are four main aspects that kept coming out. These relates to youthfulness of the DA, generational mix, our policy offer and the use of technology.
The DA is one political organisation, apart from the EFF, that gives opportunities to young people to lead, there is no waiting period for one to emerge as a leader.
Majority of our operational staff members and local government councillors are young people that have come through the ranks of the DA.
Many of young leaders have gone through various development programmes that the party offers, because we value human development.
I put my head on the chopping block to predict that the current generation of youthful leaders are the golden generation that will take the DA to the Union Buildings and bring the total change that our fellow South Africans so desire.
One conversation that has not entered the debate within the DA is the need for generational mix. We don’t talk about it for a lot of our caucuses already reflects a generational mix.
If one was to cast his or her eyes to the Parliamentary caucus, almost every generation is represented, from the youth who started schooling after 1994 to mature leaders who have seen many presidents come and go.
Generational mix is an excellent source of competitive advantage in that it allows us to be agile enough to respond to the changing political environment while not losing our values and principles.
Our policy offer to address the challenges of unemployment, poverty, inequality and corruption is one grounded in reality.
The DA policies are not populist but are rather realistic taking into account the available financial resources we have as a nation.
The DA does not go out to make promises that it will not keep just so that it receives electoral support.
Our policies are properly costed and it is for this reason that we continue to lead in delivering services to communities in municipalities we govern.
Our interest when we formulate a policy is to find solutions that will help address the challenges we face rather than seek to be popular.
The DA has embraced technology and it continues to use technology and research to get ahead and serve the people of South Africa.
We are probably the only party that relies heavily on research and polling to strengthen and grow our position.
Increasingly it will be the political party that can mine and use big data on voter sentiments and issues that will be trusted by the people. On this, the DA is miles ahead of its competitors.
While there is so much negativity that is written about us in newspapers and on social media, or spoken about on TV and radio programmes, there is so much that is great about the DA.
The 2019 game has just started, we have not lost anything as yet. People will talk, and they must be allowed to talk, but not everything that is said about the DA is the truth.
The DA is on track to retain the Western Cape, win Gauteng and increase our support in each and every province, this is a task we have set and it is a task we can’t afford to fail.
This is not about the DA, we have to do it for the people of South Africa.
It must never be done to prove the doomsayers wrong, it has to be done for South Africans.
I am prepared to work towards bringing total change to South Africa and am proud to belong to the party that is working towards the realisation of fair work for all South Africans.
* Gana is the DA Spokesperson on COGTA/Human Settlements for the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.
