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DA leader wastes no time in addressing factions as policies and ill-discipline are debated in the lead-up to the crucial election of the new federal council chair
DA leader Mmusi Maimane has dared those threatening to form a breakaway party to take their leave if they no longer identify with the party’s “project”.
Maimane made the remark when he opened this weekend’s all-important sitting of the party’s highest decision-making structure in between congresses, the federal council.
The leader’s salvos – which were not debated – came ahead of the crucial vote for a new chairperson of the federal council, set to take place today.
There are four contenders for the position: Helen Zille, Athol Trollip, Mike Waters and Thomas Walters.
And this week, Zille said in an interview that she would have to walk away from the party if it no longer embodied the values she believed it stood for.
Insiders who were delegates at the sitting told City Press that Maimane sought to face his detractors head-on.
A group known as the “true liberals” have been showing a growing resistance to Maimane’s leadership, which they allegedly believe has sullied the core values of the party.
Maimane is said to have gone on the offensive yesterday when he referred to the faction in a veiled attack, saying that “those who are not dedicated to the project” should go.
“He spoke in broad terms, but he was addressing the liberals,” said an insider.
“Remember, they are the ones who have been meeting to plot the establishment of this pure liberal party. So, he was saying that they must stop destabilising the rest of us, who want to make things work.”
In recent weeks, Zille had told City Press’ sister publication, Rapport, that she had been approached to form a new liberal party following the May 8 polls, but she had told the group that there was still a window to save the party.
She argued that breaking away was no small feat and would have to come as a last-ditch attempt.
The comments to Rapport were made in the same week in which Zille made a shock announcement that she would be standing for the position of federal council chair.
This week, when asked by City Press if her failure to secure the job would be the signal for the formation of the breakaway party, the former leader did not rule out the possibility.
“It would be completely wrong for me to go into an election like that, making out as if I am blackmailing people: ‘If you don’t vote for me, then I am going.’ No. I love the DA and I love its project for South Africa, and I have invested my whole adult life into building this party,” she said as an initial response.
“If the DA stops being that kind of a party – which I hope it won’t stop being – if it does, it won’t be my party any more because I do not support a person or a party but a set of values and ideas. And up until this point, the DA has been the carrier of those values and ideas, and I want to make sure that it continues to be the carrier of those values and ideas.”
Asked if Maimane espoused these values, Zille said: “When I speak to him he does. Sometimes what I see him quoted as saying in the media makes me ask a few questions, but you never know. When he speaks to me he certainly does.”
Pressed for a response on whether or not the DA could have a breakaway party this time next year, she said: “I am never going to say never, but what I am saying is that it is far more important to maintain the DA as the bearer of the values of nonracialism, freedom and fairness.”
Maimane is also said to have spoken strongly about ill-discipline which had crept into the party and had spilt out into the public arena.
This, he said, confused voters and diluted the message of the party.
Last year, senior leaders were at odds over the party’s redress policy and whether or not race should be used as a proxy. MPs had caused a bloodbath on social media, differing on whether or not the federal council had adopted a new policy – penned by then policy head Gwen Ngwenya – which did away with race as a proxy.
In recent weeks, Maimane has made mention of some party members pushing to limit the DA to being a gathering of minorities.
He warned against this, saying it would be “damaging” for the country, and stressed the need for the party to broaden its appeal “to attract more black South Africans”.
He also called on the new federal council chair to strictly enforce discipline in the party.
Day one of the federal council congress was dedicated to debating the report penned by a review panel, made up of former party leader Tony Leon, former party chief strategist Ryan Coetzee and Capitec boss Michiel le Roux.
The three men left shortly after presenting the report yesterday afternoon, leaving delegates to continue their debate.
A draft of the report lamented the state of leadership in the party, saying that it was clear from consultations that not all structures trusted the top brass, and that there was a lack of a clear vision and confusion on the party’s position regarding crucial matters.
Maimane allegedly appeared to get ahead of the debate on the report when he mentioned in his opening remarks that while the arrangement with the EFF in metros was not ideal, it was a necessary one to chip away at the political monopoly of the ANC.
REVIEW PANEL WARNING
The review panel’s report warns that getting into bed with the EFF may have been a mistake and that the power wielded by that party was enough to hold governments to ransom.
The panel recommended that the party seek to get a sense of voters’ opinions on the coalition before making a final decision.
Regarding the culture in the organisation, the panel found that there was a fear of speaking out and rigid communication, which was at times delivered “with a possible legal challenge in mind”.
It also found that there was a leaking of internal information and destructive behaviour on social media.
Zille’s tweets, as well as Maimane’s tweet on Ashwin Willemse, were flagged as having caused unease among voters.
Other recommendations speak to changes which must be made to structures of the party, such as doing away with certain positions, changing the composition of the national management committee, and reassessing the functions of the chief executive officer (CEO) as well as the manner in which the federal legal commission does its work.
FUTURE HANGS IN THE BALANCE
Maimane’s future continues to hang in the balance.
City Press reported last week that the panel had recommended that he step down alongside CEO Paul Boughey.
The CEO threw in the towel on Thursday, announcing that he would resign from his post.
Maimane has remained adamant that he will not resign, despite the call for him to do so.
City Press reported last week that he allegedly told his allies that he would resign if Zille were to emerge as federal council chair.
It is understood that a number of people have also proposed to the party leader that he announce at this weekend’s sitting that he will not be seeking re-election at what is likely to be an early congress next year.
“He can, at the very least, buy himself a year and figure out what his next move is in that time, without being under pressure. So, it is a win for him and for the party,” one of Maimane’s allies said.
EARLY CONGRESS
Both the review panel and Maimane have made the call for an early congress.
National spokesperson Solly Malatsi told the media yesterday that the leader had also called for a policy congress ahead of the elective one.
Malatsi confirmed that it would be possible for the federal council to defer the decision on the adoption of the review panel’s report – and any amendments to it – to a later stage, once structures had been consulted on its findings.
A number of delegates told City Press that they would argue that although the federal council had the power to make the call, it should hold off on adopting the report and allow for leaders to take the findings to lower structures to give their input.
“If we do not adopt the report now, we can buy enough time to see how the voting for the chairperson will go. That will give some of us a sense of which direction to take regarding the findings and also our futures,” a delegate said.
Voting for the new chairperson is set to take place this morning.
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