MBOMBELA – It has been almost eight years since Mr Anthony Benadie took over the leadership of the DA in Mpumalanga. He spoke to Lowvelder ahead of the party’s congress over the weekend, where Mr James Masango was elected the new leader unopposed.
Benadie denied that he was being removed as leader, explaining that he aimed to stand for a position in the national leadership in May instead. “I like the strategic stuff and electioneering.”
He said it was time to go. “Once you have done it for so long, people get sick of you. It becomes monotonous for both yourself and the party. I have grown the DA at this level as much as I can. It is probably important to point out to leave when people still want you to stay.”
The DA had gone from almost nothing to winning three seats in the province last year. The next target was getting at least 20 per cent of the vote in the province, and winning a municipality next year. Benadie described himself as being driven by passion. He hated laziness and complacency. “I push people to perform. The thing I hate most in life is losing. Bad performers tend not to get along with me. Everything must be as close to perfect as possible, preferably the first time.
“I have transformed it from being a passive party to one of activists. We have to fight for people to be relevant in their lives.” He added that the change in leadership was a cataclysmic event. “Change will reinvigorate the party.”
Masango, a former member of the provincial legislature in Mpumalanga, would remain in parliament while Benadie would remain in the legislature in the province. Legally a party could only change their party lists once a year, so should Masango resign from parliament and Benadie from legislature before May, the next person on the party’ list would automatically move into those positions – they can’t simply swop places.
Benadie denied that he would hence remain leader in everything but name. “I don’t want to go to parliament right now. There is no rush. James has a support system around him. The leadership will be in his hands. It is my job to make sure he is successful.”
He had also started working from home in Middelburg. “I won’t be able to interfere in the running of the party. I said to James I am here to support him and help him. I am not a backseat driver. I will give him the space to lead.”
Benadie denied that having a black leader was a gimmick to garner more support. “It is an indication of the extent to which we have developed leaders with limited capacity.”
He admitted he was slightly surprised that both Masango and Ms Jane Sithole, chairman stood uncontested. “I have spent hours and days training them since 2006 and there is even more I can still teach them and I will.” As the leader he had faced disagreement and so would Masango.
“I regret not doing better than what we did. I would have loved to have won more seats in legislature and to have won a municipality.
“I have no regrets over decisions, but maybe over our strategy as a collective. I regret that we didn’t make a quicker emotional connection with voters.”
Accomplishments he saw as the party merely doing its job. “But we have won wards we should not have won and we held the ANC to account to the best of our ability. And I held the team together.
“My track record, our growth and the DA’s transformation is my legacy.”
- Read more on Benadie’s tenure as leader here.
