WATCH: ‘If Nelson Mandela was around, he would be voting for Bosa’ – Maimane

With just two days left before South Africans go the polls, Build One SA (BOSA) leader Mmusi Maimane said late President Nelson Mandela would have voted for the party if he was still alive.

Several political parties including Bosa wrapped up their election campaigns over the weekend ahead of the national and provincial elections on 29 May.

Bosa held its Jikizinto rally at the Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Watch Mmusi Maimane speaking about about Madiba’s vision

Mandela would’ve voted for BOSA – @MmusiMaimane #JikizintoRally #VoteBOSA2024 #MmusiMaimane pic.twitter.com/p4j4sRnrkO

— BOSA (@BuildOneSA) May 26, 2024

Mini Mandela

Maimane told Bosa supporters that Mandela’s vision of South Africa had found a new home in Bosa.

“This rally, this moment is us taking that freedom to be free to free us from liberators who want to send us backwards and we are here to say to them if Nelson Mandela was around today, he would be voting for Bosa, for the vision of  a South Africa that works for all the people sit in this room with all the people in this country.”

Maimane told party supporters that if they want him as president of the country, they must vote for Bosa and not vote for their fears.

“If you want President Maimane in the country, you need to turn out and vote and put us in the room where we would bring change for all people in South Africa,” Maimane said, prompting a chant from the audience: “Our mini Mandela”.

“There will be a temptation to vote for the-devil-you-know, but it does not change that it is still the devil. I’m here to say, don’t vote for your fears – vote for your hopes,” Maimane said.

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Change is coming

Maimane said change is coming to South Africa after the elections.

“Can you feel it? Change is coming. Change is in the air.”

The Bosa leader said there are some that will want voters to make their choice based on the past.

“They will use emotion and nostalgia, reviving liberation leaders of old in a bid to gaslight about their governance failures over the past 30 years. They will warn of the return of Apartheid as tactic of fear.

“Others will say things were better back then, and they today govern in a way that maintains two South Africa’s – one for the wealthy and one for the rest. They want to “rescue” South Africa, they say. They will use apartheid propaganda tools of swart gevaar, stoking the apprehensions of minority groups,” Maimane said.

Maimane added that others will use racial division.

“They will blame white people, they will blame white minority capital and a racialized economy, and they will blame people from other countries who live and work in SA – our fellow African brothers and sisters.

“I am asking you to reject these parties. They have run out of ideas, and are bankrupt of any vision for a shared tomorrow. They operate on fear, and draw out the worst, blinding us to what is possible if we choose change,” Maimane said.

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Job creation

The Bosa leader also promised job creation.

“When we say we want to put a job in every home, it is not just for those who are under 35, it is about making sure in every household there’s a person who gets up, because a job isn’t about money, it’s also about dignity, safety in the home, the education of your children.

“Let us make sure there is a job in every home,” Maimane promised.

Despite being just a year and eight months in existence, Maimane said they hopeful the party will get enough votes to secure a seat in the National Assembly adding that it is hoping that its message will reach despondent voters who are looking for change.

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