Maimane’s future uncertain amid alleged plans to oust him – report

The party's 'liberal' faction is reportedly opposed to Maimane and looking for reasons to replace him.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane. Image: ANA file photo

A group within the DA is believed to be pushing for the removal of DA leader Mmusi Maimane, depending on the outcome of this year’s elections, City Press reports.

It has been reported that if the DA does not grow beyond 22%, Maimane’s detractors will seek to use this as a reason for his removal, and that they may even try to hold an early congress.

DA spokesperson Solly Malatsi responded to The Citizen’s requests for comment simply by saying reports on the matter are “completely false”.

Former DA chief whip for Emfuleni, Simon Nkosi, told eNCA that the faction calling for his removal is well known, and originated even before Maimane’s reelection as DA leader in 2018.

“There’s a group of people campaigning, going around, saying [at] the next national congress Mmusi needs to go out. I know of it. We’ve been contacted so many times,” he said.

The news network reports that it’s the “liberal” faction within the DA who would like to see the back of Maimane.

The Citizen reported last week that, according to analysts Somadoda Fikeni and Ralph Mathekga, the resignation of head of policy Gwen Ngwenya is a disaster for the party and clearly shows that it is divided, with a faction mainly representing its black members and another mainly representing its white members, who are believed to control the party as a think tank.

This appears to be in line with what Daily Maverick reported in August 2018. The publication said that there is a battle of wills within the party between “traditional liberals” and “a more radical faction bent on racial transformation”.

This battle came into play when Maimane made comments about “white privilege” at a Freedom Day rally in May 2018, and was taken to task by three DA members thought to be part of the party’s “liberal” grouping – chief whip John Steenhuisen, his deputy Mike Waters, and MP Natasha Mazzone.

Earlier in the year, two MPs who would also likely be considered to be among those sitting on the “liberal” side of the fence, Gavin Davis and Michael Cardo, altered the wording of a diversity clause in the party’s constitution added by Maimane. Their alterations included a clause specifically stating that the party rejects racial quotas.

DA Gauteng chairperson John Moodley has denied any rift, saying “there’s nothing to it,” as has DA MP Phumzile Van Damme, who says we’re simply seeing the “contestation of ideas” that takes place within any political party.

Spokesperson Solly Malatsi, meanwhile, said Ngwenya’s departure did not, as some have suggested, spell trouble for the party’s ability to launch its new manifesto on time.