Voting for ANC is telling them it's okay to steal from us, says Mmusi Maimane

07 April 2019 - 18:04
By Amil Umraw
Mmusi Maimane said on Sunday that best future is one of a coalition government.
Image: Mmusi Maimane via Twitter Mmusi Maimane said on Sunday that best future is one of a coalition government.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane believes a one-party dominant state is one of the reasons for state capture.

Speaking to a Jewish congregation in Sandton on Sunday, he said voting for the ANC in the upcoming general elections will send the party a message that "it is okay" to steal from South Africans. He said the best future is one of a coalition government.

"There can be a coalition of citizens who share values, values of constitutionalism, values of a market-based economy, values of a capable state and the eradication of state capture … I think it's a mistake to think that coalitions don't work. A one-party dominant state has meant that we end up with state capture," he said.      

"If we reward the current party with more votes we are telling them it is okay to steal from us."

Maimane emphasised that SA needed political reform.

"This nation that we all call home, which has gone through multiple histories, and, now today feels like we are uncertain about tomorrow. We can, possibly regardless of race …build a party that stands for all citizens," he said.

"The starting point, what SA needs more than anything, is political reform. It's not good enough that people go to the polls to express a race … I don't subscribe to the idea that there need to be white parties and black parties.

"Populism that is driven around the politics of division will thrive … We have to swim against the tide of populists all over the world and actually pursue building that one SA for all.  

"The absolute danger is that when people get tired of fighting against race, it's natural that they will want to divide us on the basis of religion … if your rights are taken away, my rights are taken away."