WATCH | 'You are not the colour of your skin': Chris Pappas believes SA needs a leader, not a colour

Umngeni mayor Chris Pappas says skin colour does not matter when the DA chooses its party leader.

“No political party needs a South African of any particular colour just for the sake of winning votes,” he told the Cape Town Press Club on Monday.

“We've seen many people just want someone who can get the job done. More people are saying we don't care what the person looks like or sounds like, but do we have running water in our taps?”

Pappas was on a three-day visit to Cape Town which saw him visiting three townships — Nyanga, Khayelitsha and Gugulethu.

“It is so easy to go out and campaign and say, 'vote for me because I am white' or 'vote for me because I am Christian' or 'vote for me because I am Zulu-speaking', whatever it might be. That is easy to do and you'll win 5% or 10% of the vote,” he said.

“What is difficult is to bring people together because that is what we said we set out to do as a country. So yes, race is important and yes, culture is important. All these things are important, but they are not the only defining factor of what we have to build our country on.

“I'm not saying race is not important in the discourse of South Africa. That's our history and we have to bring it along with us. But we can't on one side say we don't want quotas and we don't want employment equity and on the other side we are also arguing for a black face to run the party. It doesn't make sense in the conversations we have. What you do is you sell a credible message and prove to South Africans you are more than just the colour of your skin.”

Zulu-speaking Pappas has been credited with turning the troubled KwaZulu-Natal municipality around due to diligent management, service delivery and connecting with residents.

But his work has also come under fire.

Pappas's chief whip and friend Nhlalayenza Ndlovu was shot dead outside his home on December 5. Police are still searching for the suspects. Pappas has said he fears for his safety as the election campaign heats up.

“Politics is dirty. I worry about my safety sometimes. But I work in a province where that comes with the job. Not that it's right, but that's how it works.”

Asked whether he believes former president Jacob Zuma's public backing of the newly formed MK party will affect the DA's votes, he said he isn't worried.

“Politics is often boring and when something new and shiny comes along and makes lots of noise and gives out free alcohol and T-shirts and creates a bit of a stir, people like to be involved. And that's what we're seeing now with [the MK party].

“It's that initial phase, that excitement around its emergence, particularly among ANC voters who are either despondent and didn't want to vote or were looking for something a bit more radical. That's on the surface.

“But what we know is the institutions in the ANC, those who have been sidelined since Zuma has been removed, are now grappling for power in KZN more than anywhere else. We have clear division between what we call the RET faction and the others.

“They're also made up of a bit of a hodgepodge of people. But the RET faction has largely been in control of resources in the province. And when I say in control of resources, I mean the abuse of resources. But slowly, as elections, internal elections have changed, those people have been pushed out or changed.

“So a lot of Zuma's people have now been sidelined from contracts and being involved in tenders. So we see a lot of those people now coming to surface again. A lot of them becoming active again in the political space because they know the opportunities that come with the Zuma-backed institution.

“But, it's I believe, a lot to do with this new political party that's emerged. Will it have an effect on the election? Absolutely they will. More in KZN than anywhere else in the country.

“The people who have to worry in different forms are the ANC, the EFF and to a much lesser extent the IFP. All of these parties either compete to retain the votes Zuma would otherwise take or are trying to compete to win them over.

“So those are the three parties that will be most affected by the MK party,” he said.

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