DA's Final Rally: The Dobsonville boy comes home

Dobsonville. This is ground zero of the new DA, or at least the party the DA wants to be. A party with its roots in the township instead of the suburbs. A party with a young, energetic black leader who can credibly speak on behalf of the masses.

Mmusi Maimane, of course, is from Dobsonville. These are his streets, even if he doesn’t live here any more, and this is his rally. With four days to go before the local government elections, Maimane and the DA have commandeered Dobsonville Stadium and dressed it all in blue. The symbolism of the location is important. In 2014, the party held its final pre-vote jamboree in the Coca-Cola Dome in North Riding, an exclusive area out of reach for most of this country’s citizens. The DA wants to show that it has moved on since then.

Thousands of supporters – 25,000, the party claims, although the stadium capacity is only 24,000 – have been bussed in from all over Gauteng and surrounding provinces, and they’re in party mood.

Photo: Supporters gather and watch as Leader of South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party, Mmusi Maimane, addresses some of the thousands of people who attended the parties final pre election rally in Soweto, Johannesburg , South Africa, 30 July 2016. EPA/STR

“I’m here to celebrate the party I’ve chosen,” says Claudia Baloyi, 23, from Limpopo. It took her four hours to get here. “The ANC have been sabotaging us. So I want to change. And I must vote for the change I want.”

Despite what President Jacob Zuma may think – this week he described black people who vote for the DA as “confused” – the overwhelmingly black crowd seems to know what they want.

“I’m definitely not confused. The president is confused. I’m here to support my party, and I have a right to vote for who I want. My municipality, Randfontein, is one of the worst. But where the DA governs things work. I want my municipality to be one of those that works,” said Hullet Hild, 41.

Zuma came in for a lot of stick from DA supporters and officials alike. “Jacob Zuma wants to separate the country on racial lines so he can continue looting it. He wants to undo everything Nelson Mandela achieved. He can only continue to loot this nation if it’s divided,” Johannesburg mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba told the Daily Maverick.

Patricia de Lille, seeking re-election as mayor of Cape Town, was even harsher. “I can tell you the voters are a lot more intelligent than Jacob Zuma,” she said. “He certainly has been born with a very low IQ.”

The DA are expecting a strong showing in these polls. Given the ruling party and the president’s troubles – think Nkandla, faction-fighting and finance ministers – the DA senses an opportunity to seize control of key municipalities, including Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Tshwane. Recent polls, unreliable as they may be, suggest that the DA has its nose in front in all three metros.

Publicly, the party says it is not worried that the EFF might overtake it as South Africa’s main opposition movement. “This is a two horse race between us and the ANC,” shouts DA national spokesperson Phumzile van Damme from under the speakers’ dome, which conjures the image of a giant blue spider that has descended on Dobsonville for the day.

The mayoral candidates do a lap of honour, preceded by a cavalcade of noisy motorcycles. They receive a warm reception. After a few speeches, Mmusi Maimane follows them. He dances his way around the athletics track, and the crowd cheer him like a rock star. Not bad for a boy from Dobsonville.

Photo: The mayoral candidates do a lap of honour, preceded by a cavalcade of noisy motorcycles. (Simon Allison)

“You are in my home, welcome. A proud son of Soweto, a child of Dobsonville,” he said in his address. “You all look good, and thank you for coming here. This ground used to be our playground. So really, you have come to my home. Right here, I started to learn how to play football. We were the underdogs, but we always believed I we put in a lot of hard work and persevered, we could beat almost anybody. And some days, we did beat almost anybody.”

Outside the stadium, the streets where Maimane grew up are littered with large boulders, rubbish and singed tarmac. The detritus from a service delivery protest this week, caused by sudden and unusual power cuts. An already cold winter is made even colder. This, the DA argues, is exactly why South Africa needs change. These are exactly the kind of problems the DA is going to fix, says Mashaba. Except this particular problem probably can’t be blamed on the ANC. The power cuts only started when the DA circus descended on Dobsonville; their preparations, including leaving the stadium lights on late into the night, are what residents blame for their cold nights.

Photo: The streets of Dobsonville are littered with large boulders, rubbish and singed tarmac. (Simon Allison)

This kind of ambiguity characterises Maimane’s relationship with his home suburb. “He’s a local boy. He grew up here. Of course we like him. But that doesn’t mean we will vote for him,” said one elderly resident. The area remains an ANC stronghold. Another told the Daily Maverick that Maimane doesn’t live there anymore, and so he doesn’t understand Dobsonville’s problems. He was a local boy.

Not that these distinctions mattered too much inside the stadium. As Maimane concluded, he made it clear that his ambition was to change a nation, not just a township – and his blue army lapped it up.

“We can win in Johannesburg. We can win in Tshwane. We can win in Nelson Mandela Bay. And we can win in many other municipalities across South Africa. But we can only do it if enough people vote for change on 3 August. It is going to be so close but I can taste the victory.

“I can feel the change!” Maimane exclaimed. DM

Photo: Leader of South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party, Mmusi Maimane (R), addressing some of the thousands of people who attended the parties final pre election rally in Soweto, Johannesburg , South Africa, 30 July 2016.EPA/KEVIN SUTHERLAND