Democratic Alliance (DA) Parliamentary Leader Mmusi Maimane has confirmed that he will be running for party leader.

This comes after DA leader Helen Zille announced last week that she will not stand for re-election as party leader at the DA’s federal congress in May.

"If elected, it will be a privilege to serve as leader of the DA, to build a non racial South Africa," said Maimane

According to EWN the party is expected to elect its leader early next month and Maimane says he’s ready for the challenge

“We’ve accepted the nomination to stand for leader and so now we await the congress on 9 and 10 May and we’ll be campaigning for the position. Ultimately, whoever the leader will be will have the great immense task of growing this party and taking the people of this country to the levels that South Africa needs to go to.”

Earlier this week it was reported that DA Gauteng leader John Moodey is also set to contest the position to replace Zille.

The following speech was delivered by DA Parliamentary Leader Mmusi Maimane hours after his announcement, at the party’s Western Cape Congress in Cape Town.

My fellow democrats,

It is a great honour to address you this morning.

I have always found Cape Town to be a beautiful city, but since taking up my role in Parliament and spending more time in the Western Cape, I have come to love this Province a great deal more.

From the great natural beauty of the province, to the hard working and friendly spirit of its people, the Western never ceases to amaze me.

I am filled with great pride as I stand before you today. The success of the DA in the Western Cape has set the standard for provincial governments across South Africa.

I want to thank each and every one of you who has had a hand in that success.

Political parties often make promises in order to win votes. But there are few parties who can say that they deliver on those promises. The DA is one such party.

Just 10 years ago, the DA won only 27.2% of the votes in this province

Yet through hard work and great dedication, last year the DA claimed an overwhelming victory with just short of 60% of the vote.

The success of the DA in the Western Cape, and as a party, is a testament to the leadership shown by Helen Zille.

I would like to pay tribute to Helen today.

Over the past eight years, Helen has led the DA with selflessness and devotion, setting an example for all politicians in South Africa that leadership should always be about the needs of the people, and never about personal gain.

The legacy that Helen will leave for the DA is overwhelmingly positive.

Helen has embodied the values of non-racialism and non-sexism and fought to uphold our Constitution. This has inspired many people to join our cause, for which I am exceptionally grateful.

While I know that Helen will be the first person to tell you that this has been a team effort, no one can deny that her uncompromising work ethic and dedication to the cause has been the driving force behind the DA’s growth.

It is under Helen’s leadership that we have seen the DA transform from a party of opposition, to a party of government. Today the DA is the most diverse party in history of South Africa.

And the Western Cape is leading the way.

This time last year I was running to be Premier of Gauteng. I was inspired every day by the Western Cape Story. And every day on the campaign trail I told the residents of Gauteng what we have achieved right here in the Western Cape.

In the end we achieved 30.8% of the vote, an extra 440 000 votes since the last election. I believe we made these huge gains because of what the DA has achieved here in this province. And I thank you all for the contribution you make every single day to this cause.

Here, in the Western Cape, you have brought unemployment down to the lowest level in the country – a full 10% below the national average

Your service delivery record far exceeds other provinces. 76% of the Western Cape’s budget is dedicated to service delivery in poor communities.

The result is that 99.1% of households in the Western Cape have access to piped water, 93.4% have access to electricity and 90.5% have access to flush toilets. This figured is unmatched by any other province.

Here in the Western Cape you have improved the matric pass rate from 56% when the ANC was in power to 76.% last year.

Well-run provincial hospitals serve a large part of the community, with 80% of the Western Cape population receiving either free services or paying only a nominal fee for public healthcare.

And here we are beginning to win the battle against HIV and AIDS, with a dramatic increase in anti-retroviral treatment provision helping to bring down the mother-to-child transmission to 1.8% — the lowest in the country.

Those who claim the DA does not serve the poor must study the facts. The DA is dedicated to serving all South Africans

And nothing hurts poor people more than corruption. Corruption is theft from the poorest of our people. That is why the DA is so serious about clean government.

In its last year in government, the ANC in government in the Western Cape did not get a single clean audit for any government department. Under the DA, in 2014, ten departments managed to maintain clean audit status.

This is why the South African Institute of Government Auditors has ranked the Western Cape as the best-run province in the country for the second year in a row.

My fellow democrats,

Our country’s future depends on the success of the Democratic Alliance.

Now, more than ever, South Africa needs a strong non-racial party committed to protecting our constitution and eradicating the legacy of apartheid.

We have come a long way in the last twenty years. We have risen to become the official opposition. We have become the most diverse party in South Africa. And we have shown that we can change peoples’ lives by governing effectively

Our task now is to take the DA to the next level. We need to build on the successes of those who went before. We must become a party that can challenge for power on the national stage.

This means reaching out to the millions of South Africans who agree with our values, but don’t yet vote for us. It means building bridges between people who were historically divided. It means restoring hope in the potential of our nation.

A stronger DA is a stronger South Africa. Let us make the Western Cape Story the South African Story. Together, we can grow and we can win.

Viva, South Africa, Viva!

Source: www.da.org.za