DA Gauteng premier candidate Solly Msimanga says his party is not worried about the MK Party's performance in next week's elections.
“I've never seen anyone leave the DA and jump all the way to uMkhonto weSizwe. They've never really been a threat.”
Msimanga said voters would be wasting their votes should they decide to back former president Jacob Zuma's political party.
“If voters vote for parties like uMkhonto weSizwe, it would be a waste. Technically, they've been in government before, they've led the country for nine years. What is it that they are going to do now that they failed to do during former president Jacob Zuma's time in government?”
Msimanga poured cold water on the MK Party's target of receiving a two-thirds majority, dubbing it a pipe dream.
He suggested the MK Party doesn't need two-thirds majority to bring about change and Zuma, who had the highest number of seats in parliament while still in the ANC, could have brought about change with the support of the EFF, where a two-thirds majority was required.
What is it that they are going to do now that they failed to do during former president Jacob Zuma's time in government?
— Solly Msimanga, DA's Gauteng premier candidate
“Right now, they've conveniently forgiven each other and are looking at the possibility of forming a government. I think the people of Gauteng should not fall for that — they want change and they want a new government.
“Anybody can dream about having a two-thirds majority, there will never be a party that achieves that target in South Africa. If you look at the trajectory of our maturing democracy at this time and space, we are moving towards a coalition reality.”
The Gauteng premier-hopeful forecast that his party will retain the Western Cape, while hotly contested provinces such as Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal will see a coalition future.
“They don't want a rehashing of what has been. Yes, you might find provinces run independently like the Western Cape, which will continue to be run that way because of the DA's good governance. But in provinces like Gauteng, we need new leadership, as well as in KwaZulu-Natal and the rest of South Africa.”
Msimanga said the DA was intentional about its controversial election advert, which depicted the burning of the South African flag.
“We wanted people to get angry. We wanted them to get angry at the right people, for the right reasons. We did not burn the flag, we are depicting that South Africa is being burnt down.
“The flag represented the dream of 1994, but that dream has slowly but surely been shredded to pieces. There's more unemployment than ever, more people are victims of crime than ever before, infrastructure is falling apart, our hospitals aren't working, our education system is in shambles.
“We are saying that the people in charge who are meant to be good custodians of democracy have failed us. Voters have a choice between the next 30 years of prosperity or being burnt to the ground. This is what we want the people of South Africa to think about when they go to the polls.”
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