Last Tuesday the Networking Diner of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung took place in Johannesburg for the very first time. The keynote speaker of the evening was the former chairman of the Democratic Alliance Mmusi Maimane. Scholars, alumni, journalists and other guests discussed his visions for political, economic and social reforms and the idea behind his envisaged "Movement for one SA" with him.
Since Mmusi left the party in October last year following the re-election of Helen Zille, there has been increasing speculation about the possibility of him founding a new party with Herman Mashaba, the former mayor of Johannesburg, who also left the DA in October last year. However, together with Mashaba he initially founded "The People's Dialogue" – which is a civil society platform aiming to exchange views with South Africans on how to create a better future and build a united country and engage in dialogue instead of establishing a new party.
Mmusi Maimane will now continue to follow this path. But contrary to expectations without Herman Mashaba. Both announced last week in a joint statement that Mashaba is going on a mission to establish a party this year, while Maimane still aims at giving a voice to those who are not heard by politicians; thus he focuses on establishing a movement. This movement should have the characteristics of being non-racial, inclusive and liberal.
This discrepancy between the two approaches was also discussed at the dinner and the question was raised to what extent voters are becoming tired of institutional politics and whether institutional politics is threatened, especially regarding the high number of non-voters in South Africa. It was also discussed the extent to which active citizenship can be strengthened, thereby raising the level of activism in the country. The guests exchanged views on whether the establishment of a movement can bring about the necessary change and lead to appropriate economic and social reforms and to what extent parties prevent the possibility of a coalition.
Finally, there has been a critical discussion of the role that technological development and Big Data will play in the future visions for South Africa and a critical examination of the extent to which state-owned enterprises hinder development by preventing the necessary competition.
Mmusi Maimane's vision of a non-racial, inclusive movement for a united South Africa should be recognized and acknowledged. It remains to be seen how Maimane's movement will develop in the upcoming months and which policies will ultimately shape his movement. The future developments around his persona and the emerging movement will undoubtedly remain exciting.
