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By Odwa Mkentane 
3h ago
Cape Town – In a surprise move, former DA Mmusi Maimane leader will join business magnate and former ANC national security adviser Neil de Beer in his newly established United Independent Movement (UIM).
De Beer yesterday announced his resignation from the ANC after more than 30 years as a member.
A former national security adviser to Nelson Mandela’s ANC and Umkhonto we Sizwe’s intelligence agent, De Beer was recently a special adviser to the Deputy Minister of Defense and Military Veterans.
Having lost faith in the ANC, De Beer has created UIM, a civil society movement aimed at educating South Africans about their power and fundamental rights, uplifting their communities and electing independent candidates for public office.
This follows a Constitutional Court ruling in June this year that ordered Parliament to amend the electoral laws to allow independent individuals to stand in elections to Parliament.
One South Africa, which Maimane runs, has committed to a “symbiotic working partnership” with UIM.
“Our message today, when launching the UIM, is to understand that this country itself needs you. It is time for a new dawn and a new hope.
” A home where race is recognized but not weakened, a home where a religion is respected and not disapproved, a home where gender-based violence is unacceptable and a home where justice must be for all.
“Myself and OSA’s Mmusi Maimane have fundamentally agreed, indisputably, that the power of the people is in their vote,” De Beer said.
Maimane said they wanted to create a direct relationship between voters and members of Parliament.
“Every adult citizen has the right to stand for public office, not only as a member of a political party, because we have political parties that claim to represent us, but that represent the interests of their political party,” he said.
Cape times
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