‘Honourable route’ – DA lauds Madikizela for resigning as Western Cape leader

Bonginkosi Madikizela has resigned as provincial leader of Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Western Cape, after a turbulent three weeks in which he was outed as having lied about his qualifications.

In a statement, the DA said they respected his decision, adding that the “honourable route” he was taking in stepping down showed the “clear difference between the DA and ANC”.

“We wish to thank Bonginkosi for his service as party leader since his election  to the position of DA leader in the Western Cape,” the party said.

“We look forward  to working with him  as colleague  in the DA going forward.”

ALSO READ: ‘DA officials at war with each other,’ says qualifications whistleblower

Western Cape community safety MEC Albert Fritz has taken over as interim provincial leader until the party’s provincial council on 29 May 2021, the party said.

Two weeks ago, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde suspended him as transport and public works MEC for a period of 14 days, following an investigation by the DA’s federal legal commission into the qualifications issues.

This after the Daily Maverick reported that Madikizela did not hold a BCom degree in human resource management from Unisa, despite claiming so in his official biography on the Western Cape government website.

Madikizela told the publication he obtained his BCom in 1999 and later an IT diploma from the National Institute of Information Technology.

However, Madikizela later made an about-turn and told Daily Maverick he did not complete his BCom qualification.

Last week, Good Party secretary-general Brett Herron told The Citizen that DA members were at war with each other, and they were going as far as leaking each other’s dirt to the public domain.

Herron had raised the alarm about the qualifications of DA chief whip Natasha Mazzone, Western Cape MEC for human settlements Tertius Simmers, and Saldanha Bay mayor Marius Koen, after the DA suspended transport MEC Madikizela following his admission.

Additional reporting by Thapelo Lekabe and Siyanda Ndlovu