Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 25-10-2019
Former Democratic Alliance (DA) federal chairman Athol Trollip says the party had let Mmusi Maimane down during his tenure as leader.
The DA had a turbulent week which started with the election of former leader Helen Zille as Federal Council Chairperson, quickly followed by the resignation of Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba.
The cookie continued to crumble with leader Mmusi Maimane resigning as DA leader, parliamentary leader and a member of the party, federal chairman Athol Trollip resigning from his position, and DA chief whip John Steenhuisen also stepping down as he was appointed by Maimane.
Speaking to Radio Islam, Trollip says the DA wasn’t fully behind Maimane as a leader.
“I really felt we had let Mmusi down as a party, because we elected him as our leader and maybe we didn’t support him well enough. I know that he went through a lot of personal trauma when there was these attacks on his integrity and people made it look out like he was greedy and corrupt and self-serving.”
Trollip also says Zille’s election as Federal Council Chairperson is not the best decision by the DA.
“Prior to our contest will Helen Zille, I said in ‘politics’ there’s a time to come and there’s a time to go’ and she has had both. I’ve made it quite clear, I believe that the recycling of Helen Zille was a shortsighted choice by members of the federal council.”
Trollip says he believes South Africans would be better served if the mainstream political parties would put a cap on the kind of excesses that go with high public office.
Listen to the interview with Athol Trollip
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