DA leader Mmusi Maimane's shadow cabinet announcement in four quotes

DA supporters have congratulated party leader Mmusi Maimane on his shadow cabinet, which was announced on Wednesday via Facebook Live. 

Despite a sharp decline in votes in the May 8 election, Maimane maintains his party is the only alternative for South Africans. Here are four telling quotes from his speech.

Fresh ideas

“We have got to demonstrate to the people of this country that actually there are alternatives and that we don’t need to be stuck in the hegemonic views of this government in place. We come from an election where we have been re-elected as the official opposition in this sixth parliament and we take this opportunity as a great privilege.”

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Accountability is key

“I will ask the members of the shadow cabinet to hold their opposite numbers accountable, to exercise their mandate of chapter 4 of the constitution to hold the national executive to account through motions, oral questions, written questions and persistent work in parliamentary committees.

The fight for work continues

“No one can deny the fact that 10 million citizens can’t find work. It is very clear that the ANC’s greatest failure is that it failed to deliver an economic plan that will make sure not only do citizens have jobs, but that we have an economy that is growing. We will focus on labour legislative reforms and how we reform our SOE’s so they serve the people of South Africa better.”

We will oppose land expropriation

“We will oppose land expropriation without compensation, because not only will this be dangerous for our economy, it will equally be dangerous for private property rights which are crucial for South Africans to be able to advance, to own, prosper and to create work for fellow South Africans.”