Ntuli challenges Zille to let delegates decide on DA’s policy position

Democratic Alliance leadership contender Mbali Ntuli wants all policy decisions taken by the party to be subjected to review and ratification at the DA’s upcoming conference.

She has challenged federal council chairperson Helen Zille to let delegates at its conference decide on the policy position of the party.

Ntuli, who became a fierce critic of the party’s pending virtual elective conference, said this would mean everybody feels involved in the final process and ultimately be able to take ownership of decisions.

“Many of the decisions taken at our policy conference have made significant changes to policies [sic] positions we held in the past, which may have been why some joined. This, in and of itself, is not a problem. Renewal is always important, however the wider body of the party should ratify on [sic] our new policy direction.

“This has been our first policy conference in many years after significant policy confusion. If we do not want [to] find ourselves, once again, having different ideas of what the DA stands for, then we must get Congress to make the ultimate decision,” she wrote.

How the has party dealt with race has been an ideological battleground in the party.

The adoption of its principle of non-racialism can be seen as a victory for the grouping in the party calling themselves “classic liberals”. It is believed that this group generally supports the candidature of current interim leader John Steenhuisen as party leader after its elective conference in October.

According to the party, this would entail the assumption that a persons “race” representing how people think, feel, or have the same experience of shared events based on their physical appearance, is false. However, while there is a scientific consensus that “race” itself does not exist, racialism and racism do exist and have a profound and damaging impact on the lives of individuals and society.

The DA policy also states that non-racialism is a commitment, to reject racialism and racism, but to fight for the deconstruction of race and the reconstruction of a non-racial future.

This means the party has rejected race as a criteria for redress.

Ntuli added that the review was significant to the parties values and principles.

“Values and principles are so important to a party’s identity that at our last congress we adopted the principle of Diversity. It is my belief that any change to the values and principles of a party must pass the muster of a full Congress.

“As a leader, I really want us to all bring this party together to do that which we must to give rise to a culture of greater democracy and openness. We must arrive at Congress to renew our sense of values and purpose and to sharpen the focus of who we are and what we believe. There is no greater time nor greater occasion than our Federal Congress to do this,” she said.

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