The Democratic Alliance (DA) is headed for virtual elective congress at the end of October with a weakened black caucus after an exodus of black senior leaders abandoned the party to seek new political homes. Early signs showed that party interim leader John Steenhuisen would win to replace former leader Mmusi Maimane at the party polls. Maimane resigned late last year amid widespread disgruntlement by black leaders over lack of transformation in the party. But it’s not going to be walk in the park for Steenhuisen as he is facing a stiff challenge from the youthful KwaZulu-Natal MPL Mbali Ntuli.…
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is headed for virtual elective congress at the end of October with a weakened black caucus after an exodus of black senior leaders abandoned the party to seek new political homes.
Early signs showed that party interim leader John Steenhuisen would win to replace former leader Mmusi Maimane at the party polls. Maimane resigned late last year amid widespread disgruntlement by black leaders over lack of transformation in the party.
But it’s not going to be walk in the park for Steenhuisen as he is facing a stiff challenge from the youthful KwaZulu-Natal MPL Mbali Ntuli.
The feisty and out-spoken Ntuli is one of the very few pro-change members who preferred to stay put and take the bull by the horns after the DA black caucus was depleted. Whether she would succeed where Maimane, former Johannesburg mayor Herman Masha-ba, former Gauteng leader John Moodey and others failed, remained to be seen.
Despite the odds stacked against her, Ntuli is determined to sail against the wind in a party that had seemingly taken a step or two backwards to a party of conservative whites. The DA appears to have changed its mind about having a black leader after it suffered massive losses at the May 2019 elections under Maimane. Ntuli carried the hopes of those left behind but still want change in the party. In her campaign, she is targeting those she believed stood in the way of change, particularly Helen Zille, whom she blamed for giving the party a bad name with her infamous social media utterances.
With KwaZulu-Natal leader Zwakele Mncwango an “enemy” of Steenhuisen, Ntuli is guaranteed the provincial support. Political analyst Dr Somado-da Fikeni said the fact that the congress would be virtual could disadvantage the black members who may want to vote for Ntuli. He said many township delegates could run out of data and not be able to continue with the congress and this would give Steenhuisen an advantage.
With two weeks to go, whoever wins has their job cut out. The new leader’s main task would be to stabilise the party that has seen a fair share of bruising in-fighting since the 2017 congress.– ericn@citizen.co.za
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