Maimane warns against DA being consumed by division and infighting

Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane warned on Saturday that the party cannot allow itself to be consumed by division and infighting.

Speaking at the party’s KwaZulu-Natal provincial congress in Durban‚ Maimane said the political playing field had changed and the view ahead was filled with danger and risk.

“No longer can we satisfy ourselves by merely taking on the man from Nkandla‚ who has so harmed our country this past decade‚ and who gave us an easy target to aim at.

“And our party is learning the painful lessons of all fast-growing organisations. Our focus has been easily diverted from our core goal by navel-gazing‚ division‚ and jockeying for position‚” the DA leader said‚ adding that the pursuit of power could easily overtake the pursuit of the party’s ideals.

“We have even confronted the ugly and uncomfortable truth that not every DA government will always live up to the standard we set for ourselves. Some will ‘fall short of the glory’‚ as the Apostle Paul wrote.”

Maimane said the DA could allow itself to be consumed by division and fighting and by the voices of the cynics and the critics‚ who write the party off so glibly and who have always done so before.

“Or we can prove to ourselves and to the nation who we really are‚ and who we are fighting for.

“We can grow and be a real alternative government‚ or we can shrink into oblivion.”