At the launch of the "Our DA Campaign" in the Alexandra township in Gauteng on Saturday, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said her party "was and remains part of South Africa's struggle for freedom". "We are here to tell the untold story of the DA. It is a story about who we are, where we come from and where we are going. We want every South African to know this story.
"Like any political party, there are many strands to our history. But in recent years, the DA's strongest strand, the golden thread around which the party's tapestry has been woven for more than half a century, has somehow become obscured, even invisible," Zille said. She went on to say that the DA has allowed "our political opponents to define us"."When I travel around South Africa, it shocks me to hear that many people think the DA would bring back Apartheid if we won an election. There are a significant number of people who think the DA was responsible for Apartheid, and that Helen Suzman was a member of the ANC. I ask myself how we allowed these false perceptions to take root," Zille said.