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Mmusi Aloysias Maimane (born 6 June 1980) NPE2024 - National Candidates List as on 10 April 2024 is a South African politician, businessman, and leader of Build One South Africa, a political party. Maimane is also the former Leader of South Africa opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) political party from 10 May 2015 to 23 October 2019, and the former Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of South Africa from 29 May 2014 to 24 October 2019. He became the first black South African to lead the DA.
Maimane is the former leader of the DA in the Johannesburg City Council and the DA National Spokesperson. In 2011, he was elected to be the DA's Johannesburg mayoral candidate in the 2011 municipal elections. In that election, Maimane helped to grow the party's voter base, but was not elected mayor. Thereafter he served as Leader of the Official Opposition on the Johannesburg City Council until May 2014. In addition to his political career, he is also a pastor and elder at Liberty Church. He formed the One South Africa Movement in 2020. Mmusi Maimane launched his new political party, Build One South Africa on 24 September 2022.
Maimane grew up in Soweto, and attended Raucall and then Allen Glen High School, where he matriculated in 1997. Maimane graduated from the University of South Africa with a BA in Psychology, the University of the Witwatersrand with a Masters in Public Administration, and Bangor University in Wales with a Masters in Theology. In 2025, he graduated from the University of Johannesburg with a Doctor of Philosophy in Public Management and Governance.
The DA achieved 34.6% of the vote in the 2011 local government elections in Johannesburg, with 752,304 votes. He led a caucus of 90 members of the 260 seats in Johannesburg City Council. The mayoral seat was won by the ANC and Maimane therefore took up the position of Leader of the Official Opposition. In the Council, Maimane served on the Finance Committee, and on the Governance Committee that he had personally pushed to have constituted. He was selected as DA national spokesperson later in 2011.
At the 2012 DA Federal Congress, Maimane was elected as the party's deputy federal chairperson, ahead of eight other candidates.
In a March 2014 Ipsos poll, Gauteng respondents were asked to rate Maimane from 1 to 10 (with 1 being "totally against" and 10 being "totally in favour"); the result was an average of 4.9. Among only DA voters, just 8% rated him between 8 and 10. In the other direction, 27% of Gauteng residents rated him between 0 and 2 or "totally against".
Ahead of the 2014 national elections, Mmusi appeared in a political advert titled "Ayisafani" which suggested that the ANC, under the leadership of Jacob Zuma, had fallen from grace. The advert was banned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) after it was aired on April 8 and 9, on the basis that the advert incited violence. The DA laid a complaint with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), and a public hearing was held. The DA and SABC came to an agreement on April 16, after which the broadcaster again aired the advert. While the DA grew its share of the vote in Gauteng in the 2014 election, the ANC retained control of the province with Maimane losing to David Makhura. Following this, Maimane opted against serving in the provincial legislature and was instead sworn in as a member of the National Assembly of South Africa.Merten, Marianne. No contest for Maimane, IOL, 27 May 2014. Retrieved on 8 September 2019.
Later that month, the Federal Executive (Fedex) of the DA decided to expel Kohler Barnard from the party, although the decision was subsequently reversed on appeal. Maimane argued that action against Kohler Barnard would have implications for perceptions of the DA amongst black voters, implying that political expediency may trump the merits of the case. According to Fedex chairman James Selfe, the affair caused "massive damage" to the DA and would likely hurt them in the polls. Maimane appeared increasingly weak in his responses to and management of the affair, whose fall-out threatened his leadership of the DA.
In January 2016, Maimane set out a new stance for the DA on the issue of racism, in which he called on racists not to vote for the DA, and spelt out a charter on racism that all new DA members would have to commit to upon joining the party. He also announced that the DA would introduce equity targets when the DA selects candidates for public office in order to make the party more diverse and reflective of the country as a whole.
In January 2017, Maimane made a visit to Israel, causing some controversy. On 5 October 2017, Maimane and Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba led a march towards the Gupta family's South African home in Saxonwold against allegations of state capture. Maimane received criticism from various quarters for demonstrating at the home, despite having previously spoken out against demonstrations at private homes.
In April 2018, the DA adopted a proposal from Maimane to include a clause on diversity in its constitution, though the wording on Maimane's original version was amended based on suggestions by MPs Michael Cardo and Gavin Davis. Among the suggested changes included an explicit rejection of race-based quotas, arguing instead for "diversity of thought".
In September 2018, reports speculated that Maimane would run for the DA nomination as a candidate for Premier of the Western Cape in the 2019 elections. Maimane's spokesperson Portia Adams said that Maimane was "discussing the candidacy with party structures" and that no final decision had been reached on the matter. On 18 September, the DA announced that Maimane "decided to decline the request for him to stand as the DA’s candidate for Premier of the Western Cape"; Maimane announced Alan Winde as the party's candidate in a press conference the following day.
On 8 May 2019, the DA faced its first general election decline in its history. Analysts suggested the decline was caused by Maimane's weak leadership. The party stagnated in some areas, while it shed support to the conservative Freedom Front Plus (FF+) in other areas. Maimane can’t be blamed for election results: Gana, eNCA, 12 May 2019. Retrieved on 7 September 2019. In the National Assembly, the party lost five parliamentary seats.Hogg, Alec. #Elections2019 at a glance: ANC loses 19 MPs to EFF; DA 5 to FF+, BizNews, 8 May 2019. Retrieved on 7 September 2019. In KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, it lost the title of official opposition to the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), respectively.Shange, Naledi. DA happy about ANC’s decline in Mpumalanga, accepts 3rd place, TimesLIVE, 10 May 2019. Retrieved on 7 September 2019. The DA underperformed and lost support in Gauteng, a province that the party was expected to gain control of through a coalition government.Deklerk, Aphiwe. ANC holds on to Gauteng by a whisker, TimesLIVE, 11 May 2019. Retrieved on 7 September 2019. The DA declined in its traditional stronghold of the Western Cape.Naki, Eric. DA’s ‘policy double-speak, ANC obsession’ sank it in elections, The Citizen, 16 May 2019. Retrieved on 7 September 2019. Despite the decline at national level and in some provinces, the party did manage to grow in the Free State, Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, earning one seat more in each of the respective provincial legislatures.Gumede, Williams. The DA's campaign battle plan was simply wrong, News24, 19 May 2019. Retrieved on 7 September 2019.
After the results were announced, the media speculated that the DA would dismiss Maimane due to the party's decline in the polls. DA divisions over Maimane's future resurface, Eyewitness News. Retrieved on 4 June 2019. When asked about the speculations, the DA Federal Council Chairperson James Selfe said "that will be up to the party to decide." Mmusi Maimane not worried about his job despite poor election performance, TimesLIVE. Retrieved on 4 June 2019. The following week, the party's Federal Chairperson Athol Trollip, after in consultation with the Federal Executive members, announced that Maimane could remain leader until the next DA Federal Congress. DA slams talks of leadership change, Mmusi Maimane survives as party leader, IOL. Retrieved on 4 June 2019. Maimane retains leadership of the DA until 2021. Retrieved on 4 June 2019.
In 2022, Maimane became a shareholder and business partner at investment house SiSebenza.
In August 2022, Maimane was robbed at gunpoint in a Cape Town bar. Private security companies and the police quickly arrived on scene and no one was hurt. Maimane said that while he was glad no one was hurt, this was a stark reminder of the high level of violent crime in the country.
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