He said the DA was being labelled as a party of apartheid by its opponents only because they knew the DA was the only party capable of uniting South Africans.
"They even say that I am a puppet of white people and‚ if we win elections‚ I will be replaced by a white person. The truth is that I will never be black enough for them. Because they don't want black people to think for themselves. They want black people to remain trapped in the politics of race because that's what keeps the ANC in power‚" said Maimane.
He said the ANC was afraid of the DA just as the apartheid government had feared white South Africans who rejected their racial nationalism.
"They are afraid of a new generation of black South Africans who think differently to them and want to choose their own futures‚" added Maimane. He said while other parties said only black people could speak for black people and only white people could speak for white people‚ his party was breaking those boundaries.
Maimane said although his upbringing as a black person by a Xhosa and Tswana parents from Soweto and his religion shaped who he was‚ he was the one who chose who he was.
He said when he was elected he said if people didn't see that he was black‚ they didn't see but there was a flip side to that.