I do not fear bricks, I fear not defending democracy

Let me state openly that I am a DA man. I'm the DA Youth chairman in Gauteng and a graduate of the DA Young Leaders' Programme, and I have served on the students' representative council of the University of Pretoria as a DA representative.

There has been lots of discussion over the merits of the DA marching on Luthuli House - and the way in which the criticism has been framed has disturbed me.

What is worrying is how people have been saying the DA shouldn't march on Luthuli House because it might turn violent. In other words: don't go there because you will only poke the beast, and then it will bite you.

Has our political intolerance reached such a low that opposition parties cannot hold their rivals to account because it will result in us being hit by bricks? How this argument was even entertained is beyond me.

Tell us we are blurring the line between party and state or that we are politicking for politics' sake. Fair enough. But now we must call off our march because it will most probably result in violence?

Why do we need to march on Luthuli House? To show the ANC we aren't scared and that they can't intimidate us out of exercising our democratic rights.

Let us take a moment to examine the case of opposition politics in South Africa. The two opposition parties to watch in the coming elections are the DA and the EFF. COPE has reached its peak, with the internal fighting over the last few years having cost it dearly. Agang is going to have to fix the damage Mamphela Ramphele has done.

Considering this information, the DA must march on Luthuli House to remind South Africans that the DA is not just a party they read about in the papers; the DA is the only opposition party capable of rallying thousands of members and leading them in a march against the ANC.