The Democratic Alliance (DA) is the most diverse political party in the Northern Cape and strongly condemns attempts to racialize our newly elected provincial leadership.
Over the past weekend, the DA hosted a very successful provincial congress in Upington. A total of 309 delegates, representing branches from across the Northern Cape, participated.
Delegates elected a provincial chairperson, out of three diverse candidates who chose to stand for this position. Delegates also elected three deputy provincial chairpersons from 13 diverse candidates, who also chose to contest this position. Candidates were afforded an equal opportunity to promote themselves, after which delegates were afforded the opportunity to vote for their personal candidates of choice, in a free, fair and transparent manner.
The results were as follows:
Provincial Leader:
Isak Fritz (uncontested)
Provincial Chairperson:
Lisa Schickerling
Deputy Chairpersons:
Henriette du Plessis
Rodney Kritzinger
Belinda Moses
Finance Chairperson:
Delmaine Christians (Uncontested)
Our newly elected leadership team is highly competent, with each successful incumbent having proven themselves in their respective constituencies, in party structures and leadership positions, as well as in their broad range of portfolios on which they serve in parliament, the legislature and council. The team is diverse and, for the first time, we have a woman elected as our provincial chairperson.
The DA does not classify people according to race, nor do we reduce anyone’s worth to the colour of their skin. The narrative that the DA elected an all-white provincial leadership team, however, is false and must be corrected. For the record, I am coloured, and so are Delmaine Christians and Belinda Moses. Our constituency head leadership is further made up of black, coloured and white leaders, as is our contingent of councillors and our thousands of signed up DA members.
We also strongly reject the insinuation that we should have racially engineered the congress election outcome according to dehumanizing race quotas, that reduce people to mere demographic categories, as opposed to individuals, with special strengths and talents.
The DA values the richly diverse society in the Northern Cape. We believe that our diversity within the Party is an asset and sets us apart from our political opponents. We will continue to take active steps to promote and advance diversity in our own ranks. We will also ensure that there is redress for any disadvantages caused by our past, in a manner that is free and fair and does not deny someone an opportunity, based solely on their race.