DA’s Mmusi meltdown ‘a tragedy’ for party

It was a double tragedy for the Democratic Alliance (DA) yesterday, as two of its most prominent leaders stepped down.

The resignations of party leader Mmusi Maimane and party chairperson Athol Trollip came just two days after the resignation of Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba.

Political analyst Ralph Mathekga attributed this to the party making the mistake of electing Helen Zille as federal chairperson, and moving the party to the right.

“It’s a tragedy for the DA, they did not anticipate that this would lead to the resignation of leaders like Maimane and Trollip.

“The party is in a crisis now. We might see more senior members resigning.

“Electing Zille and moving the party to the right drove them into more crisis,” said Mathekga.

With Zille standing right behind him listening quietly and intently to every word, Maimane announced that he was stepping down as the party leader but would remain an MP and parliamentary leader.

“I will continue in the role as parliamentary leader until the end of the year, after which the party will go to congress to elect new leadership,” Maimane said.

Maimane told a packed media briefing at the party headquarters, Nkululeko House in Bruma, east of Johannesburg, that he consulted with his family about resigning.

“In the end, we have come to the conclusion that, despite my best efforts, the DA is not the vehicle best suited to take forward the vision of building one South Africa for all.

“It is with great sadness that, in order to continue the fight for this vision I so strongly believe in, and the country I so dearly love, I today tender my resignation as leader of the Democratic Alliance,” Maimane said.

He said he had been attacked by members within the party and his family put under strain by the negative publicity he was receiving.

“There has been for several months a consistent and coordinated attempt to undermine my leadership and ensure that either this project failed, or I failed.

“This extended to the smear campaign that was run on the front pages of an Afrikaans weekly paper in an attempt to destroy both my name and my integrity.

“This cowardly behaviour has put my wife and two young children in great danger as pictures of our home were published in the media,” Maimane said.

Another political analyst, Somadoda Fikeni, said the DA was creating an impression of a party that had not come to terms with the issue of race and identity and it will lose its competitive advantage of being known as a party of order and good leadership.

Maimane thanked former party federal chair, James Selfe, whom he said he respected. He also mentioned Zille, saying although they disagreed on a number of areas, they respected each other and would continue to do so.

“Make no mistake, along the journey there have been many difficulties.

“I fought battles with Helen, especially regarding her comments – and the impact of her comments – as it pertained to colonialism,” said Maimane.

The outgoing leader paid special tribute to Trollip.

Maimane was the only senior party member who supported Trollip during his troubles in Nelson Mandela metro.

Maimane said he fought for change in the DA and made sure to recruit more blacks into the party.

He said during the party’s 2018 federal congress, he sponsored the “diversity clause” which cemented diversity as one of the DA’s core values.

“This was a very important step in leading the organisation towards more inclusivity, which was vital,” he said.

According to Maimane, blacks did not relate to the DA but he consistently recruited them into the party.

“It is no secret that for decades the DA has been seen as a party for minorities only. This needed to change and it required deliberate action,” said Maimane.

Maimane’s meteoric rise to prominence

Despite his prominence on the political landscape, Mmusi Aloysias Maimane’s political career has remarkably only been a decade long.

Maimane joined the Democratic Alliance (DA) in 2009.

A year later he applied to run as a DA candidate for Johannesburg city council, as well as for internal election as the DA candidate for mayor of Johannesburg.

He defeated contender Vasco da Gama in this battle, and had the support of, among others the then party, leader and Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille.

Maimane led a caucus of 90 members of the 260 seats in Johannesburg City Council, becoming the leader of the official opposition.

He was selected as DA national spokesperson in 2011 and a year later he was elected as the DA’s deputy federal chairperson by the party’s federal congress.

In July 2013, Maimane announced his intention to run for the DA nomination as a candidate for premier of Gauteng. He beat DA Gauteng health spokesperson Jack Bloom and Vaughan Reineke to this position.

In May 2014, the DA’s parliamentary caucus met to select a new parliamentary leadership.

Maimane was elected unopposed as the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly. – Source: sahistory.org.za

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