DA, get your De Lille act together

Looking at the in-fighting in the Democratic Alliance (DA) over the issue of Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille, you cannot help but wonder if the party has a death wish.

No wonder federal chair James Selfe looks like a mixture of worried and embarrassed when he appears in public.

Just exactly what De Lille is supposed to have done in terms of party procedures and of governance is anything but clear as the DA meets tomorrow to decide her fate.

De Lille claims she has not been given a chance to respond to accusations of mismanagement and corruption – and we have to agree with her.

We have seen nothing like the sort of transparent disciplinary process we would expect from the organisation that holds itself as much holier than the governing ANC.

On the other hand, De Lille’s supporters have been making nasty comments about race, which has exposed the reality that the bonds holding at least some parts of the alliance together are weak, and that unity is a fragile thing.

We urge the DA leadership to, as Tony Leon says, “back her or sack her”.

The crisis is bad for the party, but a divided opposition is also bad for democracy.

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