Maimane hits back over ‘Madiba vote’ jibes

Maimane has hit back at the ANC for “misquoting” him and sought to set the record straight over his apparent claim to have “voted for Madiba”.

Port Elizabeth - DA leader Mmusi Maimane has hit back at the ANC for “misquoting” him and sought to set the record straight over his apparent claim to have “voted for Madiba”.

Maimane said he first voted in Soweto in 1999 and not in 1994 as his detractors had quoted him as saying.

Addressing journalists on Tuesday morning at the scenic and newly revamped Donkin Reserve overlooking the Port Elizabeth harbour, Maimane said Wednesday was a crucial day in Nelson Mandela Bay “on the eve of election where the DA could govern”.

He again presented the DA as the only political party that had a concrete plan on how it would create jobs and cut corruption.

The ANC came to the elections to divide people along racial lines, and had invested much time “spewing lies and racism you’ve never heard”.

The visibly irritated Maimane said the ruling party leaders had deliberately misquoted what he said at the Phetogo rally in Gauteng over the weekend. He said he had told DA supporters that he first voted in Dobsonville in Soweto in 1999 and not in the country’s first democratic elections in 1994, when Nelson Mandela was elected president.

“It’s a clear ploy on the part of swindlers and corruptors to make up lies,” he said, looking agitated, and called on political leaders to put people at the centre of their election campaigns.

He said current ANC leader President Jacob Zuma did not comprehend the ideals the renowned statesman fought for, including those of non-racialism and a prosperous South Africa for all.

“This country is on autopilot, thanks to Jacob Zuma who can’t comprehend what a non-racial society looks like,” he said, standing next to a metal cut-out of a tall and jubilant Mandela, his fist punching the air.

Maimane said former president Thabo Mbeki had described the ANC as an “ignoble, parasitic organisation. No wonder he’s not even willing to campaign for them”.

Throughout his election campaign, said the DA leader, Zuma relied “on ancestors and God”.

Zuma reportedly told prospective voters that if they voted for the opposition the ancestors would turn their backs on them and they would have bad luck.

Maimane said the current ANC leadership was full of Zuma’s “supporters and cheerleaders”, and that it had betrayed the country’s 8.9 million unemployed people due to its failure to table a plan to address the economic crisis.

Maimane said South Africans would be face with two choices in Wednesday's elections: to vote for a clean government that had a track record in job creation; or a corrupt government that had been found wanting in the creation of jobs.

luyolo.mkentane@inl.co.za

@luyolomkentane

Elections Bureau