WATCH: In 2020 we must ‘reject extremism, whether the EFF on the left or the FF+ on the right’ – Steenhuisen

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen posted a New Year’s message on his party’s official Twitter account on Tuesday, addressing the challenges his party has faced in 2019 but saying the “time for lamenting is over”.

“On behalf of the DA, I’d like to take this opportunity [to wish] every South African a happy and prosperous new year,” he said.

There is “boundless opportunity to build a country we can all be proud of,” he added, saying he hoped a South Africa that was a “shining beacon of hope” could be achieved.

He then frankly addressed his party’s challenges over the past year, which included the resignation of leader Mmusi Maimane and Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba, and subsequent loss of the key Johannesburg metro, as well as engaging in a legal battle to remain in control of Tshwane, where the DA’s mayor Stevens Mokgalapa was removed in a vote of no confidence that the DA does not consider to have been conducted legally.

“Make no mistake, 2019 has been a tough year for the DA and I’ll be the first to admit such,” Steenhuisen said.

“We’ve traversed some rocky terrain and faced an electoral setback that no one would wish for. However, the time for lamenting is over. Now is the time to renew, refocus, and rebuild.”

Steenhuisen then quoted former US president Lyndon B Johnson: “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”

He then continued: “Our country is a state of crisis. We must band together to reject extremism, whether the EFF on the left or the Freedom Front on the right.”

Steenhuisen said he wanted to build a “moderate, rational centre”, and “abandon pitting one race group against another” to build a “truly non-racial society”.

He reiterated his and his party’s rejection of affirmative action or quotas, saying if poverty was properly addressed “we won’t have to try and engineer an equality of outcome”.

The way to do this according to the DA interim leader is through an “inclusive, growing enterprise economy”.

Like President Cyril Ramaphosa and EFF leader Julius Malema, Steenhuisen mentioned the “scourge of gender-based violence”. He also singled out education as one of the main problems that would need to be addressed.

Steenshuisen said he would be embarking on what he called “the real state of the nation tour”, which would see him visit “every province to hear from ordinary people”.

He ended his message by wishing all South Africans “freedom, fairness, opportunity and diversity” and hoping that 2020 provided “new challenges and new opportunities” for all.

“Be responsible and always remember those less fortunate than yourself,” he concluded before wishing all South Africans a happy new year.

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)

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