The former leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), Mmusi Maimane, has along with another former senior leader in the party, Herman Mashaba, launched the ‘People’s Dialogue.’
The aim of the dialogues will be to meet with ordinary South Africans and hear what their concerns are. Meetings will be held around the country in January and February next year, with a new movement expected to be launched in March 2020.
People can also visit the People’s Dialogue website where they can put forward their concerns about South Africa.
Speaking to Rapport, Maimane, who has just returned from abroad, said: ‘I think the country needs a new movement. At this point, I don’t believe we need a new political party – rather, a movement of South Africans who believe in the same values and want to build on those values. That’s what I’m focusing on. Party number 49 in the line of parties is not going to do the country much good.”
Maimane said that the response from ordinary South Africans was overwhelming.
The launch of movements which aim to do things differently in South African politics, is not uncommon. The United Democratic Movement was formed by Bantu Holomisa and Roelf Meyer in the late 1990s as an alternate vehicle for South Africans. More recently Mamphela Ramphele launch Agang, which was initially supposed to be a ‘movement’ rather than a political party. Agang managed to get into Parliament in 2014 but failed to reach the hurdle in May’s general election.
It remains to be seen whether Maimane and Mashaba’s new movement does manage to shake up South African politics or if it will be something of a damp squib.