DA officially opens Nkululeko House – the Party’s new Headquarters in Gauteng
Note to Editors: The following remarks were made today by DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane, at the official opening of the Party’s new Campaign HQ in Bruma, Johannesburg. Maimane was joined by several members of the Federal Executive (FedEx). Please find attached pictures here, here, and here.
Fellow South Africans,
Today we officially open the Democratic Alliance’s new Campaign Headquarters (HQ) here in the heart of Gauteng, as we intensify the battle for victory in this province ahead of next year’s General Elections.
Named “Nkululeko House” in isiZulu, or Freedom House in English, this building will serve as the political and operational headquarters of the DA leading up to 2019 and beyond.
Since the party’s formation in 2000, our Federal Head Office has been in Cape Town, in a city and a province in which the DA enjoys considerable support. And for the past decade and a half this has served the party well, with our local and provincial governments - as well as our Parliamentary Operation - having all been in close proximity to the party’s Federal Head Office.
However, as a growing party now governing for over 16 million South Africans, our strategic footprint requires expansion. Indeed, the DA’s growth over the past few years has shattered the myth that the DA is a “regional party”, and this ought to be reflected in our operational structure. We are now well and truly a party for all South Africans, with a national footprint in towns, cities and provinces across the nation.
Nkululeko House will now be the party’s Campaign HQ, and home to large contingent of the DA’s Federal staff structures including the National Campaign “War Room”, the Polling and Research Department, the National Call Centre, the Leader’s Office, the Gauteng Provincial Office, and the party’s Corporate Services Directorate. It will also house a media briefing room, where national DA press conferences will be held. In the long run, we do hope that this building be too small to house our federal operation as we continue to grow.
Fellow Democrats,
The opening of Nkululeko House signals our intention loud and clear. Both its name and its location speak to the DA’s vision for the future. We plan to govern this province come 2019, and we plan to grow our support base in every other province across the country. We strive to become the leaders of a coalition government that will take over from the ANC in national government and bring true freedom to the almost 10 million unemployed South Africans, and over half the nation who still live in poverty. It is this fight for freedom on behalf of those who have been left behind that drives our organisation each day.
It is no secret that Gauteng is the great battleground come election time next year. As economic hub of our nation, it remains our utmost priority to wrestle power away from the ANC in this province. If we can do that – which I wholeheartedly believe we can – we can bring the DA’s brand of good, clean, job-creating governance to this province, ensuring that jobs are created, services are delivered, and the lives of those left behind are drastically improved.
In the last National Elections in 2014, the ANC held onto power in this province by the skin of their teeth. They were 3% away from losing Gauteng. That election began the province-wide movement to bring real change. In the 2016 Local Government Elections, the people chose new DA-led governments in the City of Johannesburg, and in the capital city of Tshwane. And I believe in 2019, the people of Gauteng will reject this ANC that brought them E-tolls, Esidimeni and unemployment, and choose a brand-new beginning for this beautiful province.
The people of Johannesburg and Tshwane can already see the change brought about in those metros since DA-led coalition governments took over 20 months ago. We want to continue that change, and bring it to Gauteng, and to the whole of South Africa.
As we go to our Federal Congress, to be held this coming weekend in Tshwane, we are confident we will elect leadership and adopt bold policies that will provide South Africans with a real alternative at the ballot box in 2019. This will be the biggest Congress in the DA’s history, with over 2000 delegates from across the country to attend.
An array of resolutions will be considered by delegates, focusing on tackling endemic poverty and rampant unemployment and joblessness. Congress will consider, deliberate and vote on resolutions on the economy, healthcare, crime, housing, social grants, education, as well as on national tragedies such as Marikana and Esidimeni.
The fight for an alternative, post-ANC South Africa is in full swing. We are moving towards the creation a shared future for all South Africans – a united, democratic, prosperous and non-racial South Africa.
I thank you.
Issued by the DA, 4 April 2018
