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The DA’s federal executive has paved the way for the party’s parliamentary chief whip, John Steenhuisen, to resume his post by approving his request for a “special condonation”.
Steenhuisen was among several public representatives who had written to the powerful decision-making structure, either asking for special provision over a failure to pay their party tithes or appealing against letters of demand that were sent to them in error.
According to the DA’s constitution, public representatives require a certificate of good standing in order to qualify to stand for positions of service.
Steenhuisen’s alleged financial woes have, in recent months, become a proxy war of sorts between the chief whip and some from his home province of KwaZulu-Natal.
Steenhuisen had allegedly gone as far as to appeal to the party to come to his defence in the face of what he deemed to be an onslaught from the DA leader in KwaZulu-Natal, Zwakele Mncwango.
Last week, the parliamentary caucus discussed the removal of Mncwango through a motion of no confidence, a move allegedly championed by MP Natasha Mazzone in defence of the chief whip.
Insiders who attended that meeting say all those who had made the plea to the federal executive were successful.
Arguments advanced by those seeking a special condonation over their failure to cough up their tithes ranged from having needed money for family members experiencing ill health to having to shell out for school fees.
Steenhuisen told City Press last week that he had erroneously been sent letters of demand from his province and that he was, in fact, up to date with paying his tithes.
It is alleged that during Friday’s sitting of the federal executive, Mncwango rubbished that argument, saying some letters of demand that had been sent to the chief whip predated even his election as provincial leader – but he was defeated.
Insiders say the party had to choose to quash any further fights over the matter as elections were approaching – and the DA’s handling of the removal of Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille had already wreaked havoc, according to its internal polls.
Another matter that was discussed by the federal executive was the current power crisis facing the country. In a statement issued by the party, leader Mmusi Maimane said the DA would seek to intervene by introducing a new bill to Parliament early next year.
“In the medium term, the most suitable way to fix our nation’s electricity crisis is to end Eskom’s monopoly by splitting Eskom into separate power production and distribution businesses, while simultaneously allowing cities to purchase directly from independent power producers.
“The DA has a draft bill – The Independent System and Market Operator Bill, or ‘Ismo bill’ – to achieve just that,” the statement reads.
“A crucial objective of the bill will be to allow metropolitan municipalities with a proven history of good financial governance and electricity reticulation management to trade with electricity generators directly, buying electricity straight from the source.
“In the spirit of accountability, the processes involved with such procurement will be required to be transparent, and any agreement concluded will be required to be the result of a competitive bidding process.
“Metropolitan municipalities that have shown themselves to be capable of good governance will be allowed to manage their energy requirements without being dictated to by national or provincial government.”
