Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 18-11-2019
A political analyst has told Radio Islam, while the Democratic Alliance (DA) has elected John Steenhuizen as the new interim leader to take the party through a difficult phase, it has created the perception that a new “white management” has taken over.
The DA has been trying to rebuild itself following the resignation of former leader Mmusi Maimane, Athol Trollip and Herman Mashaba while former leader Helen Zille was elected as Federal Council Chairperson.
Speaking after his election, Steenhuisen called on members to rebuild the party, stating that the DA was not in a fight over ideology or a fight for power, but to push back against the tide of poverty that has engulfed the lives of many South Africans.
Political analyst Theo Venter says while Steenhuizen’s could be cemented as the official leader after the DA’s elective congress in May and has a mammoth task to rebuild the party, he may have to be subservient to Zille.
“That is the Helen Zille curse. Having spoken to her in the last two weeks, she said to me that basically what she is looking at and what she thinks she should do it to reorganize the party’s internal structures, party organization and those kind of things.”
Venter says there are two groups in the DA who have different allegiances.
“What we now see, it seems to me the two groups in the DA are now loosely refered to as the ‘progressives’ that used to be Mmusi Maimane and Herman Mashaba vs the liberals. It seem to be the liberals are now in charge, but we will have to see what they do and how they can regroup without the so called progressives and out of the leadership.”
Venter says while the DA does not have a black leader to attract black voters, the party’s current strategy is more focused on consolidation than growth.
Listen to the interview with Theo Venter
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