‘The DA is serious about defeating the ANC’: Liam Jacobs explains return after PA stint

Former DA MP Liam Jacobs says he hopes more South Africans will join the party as it seeks to become the country’s largest political force following his return to the DA after a brief stint with the Patriotic Alliance (PA).

Jacobs announced his return during a live Facebook broadcast where he described the DA as the best vehicle for those seeking an alternative to ANC rule.

“I can’t wait to see more and more people come to the DA so we can be the biggest party in the country. The DA is a party that is serious about defeating the ANC, so if you don’t want an ANC government and if you don’t want to be governed by the friends of the ANC, then you know where your home is,” he said.

Jacobs left the DA last year to join the PA but has now returned to the opposition party after what he described as a period of personal reflection and political introspection.

Speaking about the factors that influenced his decision, Jacobs said travel and time away from familiar surroundings helped him reassess his values.

“International travel is important because you encounter who you are outside of what you know. You find definitions of what you are. You find your character, you find who you are,” he said.

“You find out what it is that you truly stand for, what your values are. They reflect to you when you are in places that you are not common with, that you don’t know. The past month and many months prior to this have spoken to what it is that gets me going in the morning. What is it that brings me to politics.”

Jacobs said his self-reflection ultimately led him back to the constitutional values that first drew him into politics.

“We are here to beat corruption at its face, we are here to protect the constitution and those values because it is those values that show us who and what we are, and when I look at my political career, I had to look at myself and ask: does it align to the values that I was raised with? Is it in line with the values of the constitution? Is it in line with what it is that I am currently doing?” he said.

“After months and months of reckoning, I think it is time that I finally speak about what those are and it also speaks to what it is that we want to see our politics look like.”

Without directly naming the PA, Jacobs criticised patronage politics and systems that reward loyalty over merit.

“Do we want to see our politics full of cadre deployment; do we want to see the Zuma politics continue in another fashion; do we want to see the politics where friends are awarded certain things; do we want to see politics where loyalists and certain people who are loyal to the leader get support or get put into positions? I don’t think so,” he said.

In a statement on Monday, DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis said the party was pleased to welcome Jacobs back after he had rejected what he described as the PA’s “politics of chaos and criminality”.

“Liam Jacobs left the PA because he saw firsthand that the PA never delivers on promises,” said Hill-Lewis.

He said people sometimes take the wrong road.

“What matters is whether they are willing to correct course and recommit themselves to the work of building a better South Africa. That is a sign of maturity and braveness. Liam has done that and we welcome him back,” said Hill-Lewis.

Hill-Lewis said the DA did not believe political differences should permanently sever relationships.

“We do not and will never subscribe to the school of politics that says once a bridge is burnt it can never be repaired. And that once someone has wronged you, they are dead to you. That is unhealthy in politics and in life. South Africa needs a political alternative that is bigger than grievance, bigger than division and bigger than any individual,” he said.

Addressing Jacobs directly during the announcement, Hill-Lewis said it was natural for young people to make mistakes and learn from them.

“It is amazing to have you back in the DA. It would be absolute hypocrisy of us if we expected no one to ever make a mistake in their lives. Everyone was in their twenties once, and that is the point of being in your twenties. You’ve got to learn, you’ve got to grow, to figure out who you are,” he said.

Referring to comments made by Helen Zille when Jacobs left the party, Hill-Lewis said: “When you left the DA, Helen said: ‘We are not going to hate Liam, he is a talented young man who has made a mistake and he is going to figure it out’, and she was right because you are a talented young man who has figured out that he has made a mistake, and so much of bravery in life is figuring that out and being able to say so. Well done to you, congratulations to you and it is awesome to have you home.”

Hill-Lewis also suggested that Jacobs may not be the last former PA member to make the switch.

“What we want to see in our party is people who are passionate in our politics, about ethics in our politics, who want to see accountability and want to see parties run by proper systems, proper internal democracy. It is going to take that to build, and we are going to be welcoming many, many others,” he said.

Hill-Lewis said other PA members are expressing interest in joining the DA.

“Many others of the PA are reaching out to me and we know what is happening there. We are happy to talk to you, reach out, you know where home is,” he said.

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