Durban - The DA KZN provincial congress at the Durban Inkosi Albert Luthuli ICC on Saturday will see the election of new provincial leaders on the back of winning the party’s Province of the Year Award at its national congress and ahead of next year’s national general elections.
The award was, among other things, in recognition of the DA KZN taking over the uMngeni Municipality which, prior to the 2021 municipal elections, had been under the control of the ANC.
The DA KZN candidates for the position of provincial leader are Bongumusa Nhlabathi and Francois Rodgers, deputy provincial leader are Mzamo Billy and Sithembiso Ngema, and Dianne Kohler-Barnard will contest against Dean Macpherson for the position of provincial chairperson.
Nhlabathi, the DA Msunduzi Municipality caucus chief whip, said his priorities if elected leader would be to introduce constituency-based internal political schools to equip and assist activists to have more competitive discussions with the electorate and other parties in the new market.
He would also strengthen the support in the current support base and in turn push for more people in this new market, which includes rural and township areas, to support the party at next year’s elections.
Incumbent provincial leader Rodgers will be contesting again for the position and said he will continue to build a united democratic team in the province which is geared and focused towards next year’s elections.
“To continue building our support base through our activists, our branches and to continue convincing voters that there is hope in 2024.
“I think our biggest priority is to remove the ANC from power in 2024 and look at forming some coalition government so that we can turn the situation in the province around and start focusing on the people’s needs and not the needs of the ANC.”
Billy, a DA councillor at the eThekwini Municipality, said the province has some of the highest unemployment rates in the country and crime and poverty is at its peak.
“The ANC has infiltrated administrations in municipalities and provincial government with cadres masquerading as officials. This has a direct impact on the quality of services provided to communities.
“The DA must lead the fight against these injustices. We must strongly demonstrate to the people of KZN what a DA difference looks like.
“Umngeni Municipality is a clear example of what our province can look like if the DA is to govern. If elected as deputy leader, I will make this one of my biggest priorities.”
He said his plan is to bring back local and foreign investors in the province so that more job opportunities can be created.
“Investors can only invest in a province that prioritises clean governance, fights corruption and is efficient,” he said.
Billy said ahead of the 2024 elections the party will talk to all other opposition parties to form an ANC-free government in the province.
“This is a massive responsibility and will require leaders who are sober, have got the best interests of the people and leaders who will engage in these negotiations, not from a point of privilege or deep hatred for others,” he said.
Party MP Kohler-Barnard said the party’s job is to rid the country of ANC governance, “the innate corruption of which was highlighted mercilessly by the Zondo Commission revelations. So, in KZN that must be our number one objective.
“This province has the talent to regain the DA crown as the top performing province in the country. I will strive to make that happen through a multitude of DA tried-and-tested methods to best attract votes.
“We know that our party is the only party that can save our country. I dare to dream that we will form the core of an alternative government in our province. We have the talent and expertise within the DA to do everywhere what we did so successfully in uMngeni,” said Kohler-Barnard.
Current chairperson Macpherson, also an MP, said his top priority is to “ensure that every member and structure is prepared for the most important election in 2024 and to ensure they rid KZN of the ANC”.
Macpherson’s campaign for re-election has been given a boost with the endorsement of uMngeni mayor Chris Pappas, who described him as a vital part of the provincial leadership.
“There can be nothing more than this historic mission for our party, and so I will spend every single day preparing our party for this day,” said Macpherson.
“I will also ensure that we train our next group of leaders to be ready for government in 2024 and 2026 so that we are ready for our MEC’s, mayors, deputy mayors, Speakers and Exco members to hit the ground running after 2026.
“The DA in KZN has never been in a better position to be in provincial government and we dare not let this opportunity slip,” he said.