Mmusi Maimane steps down as DA leader, Athol Trollip resigns as DA federal chair
BRUMA – This comes after the executive mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba announced his departure both from the political party and his mayoral duties.
Mmusi Maimane has stepped down as leader of the DA. This was announced at a press conference that was held at the DA’s headquarters in Bruma this afternoon, 23 October.
The press briefing was delayed a few times. First it was set to start at 1pm. It was then moved to 3pm. Maimane finally addressed the media at around 5pm. It had been speculated that Maimane’s resignation would be followed by other leaders of the party, which played out to be true as the DA federal chairperson Athol Trollip then announced his resignation.
In his address, Maimane said the party had taken steps to move forward and involve more diverse leaders, but he said that in the past few weeks he had noticed a small faction in the DA that did not share his vision and there were efforts made to undermine his name and his family.
He consulted with his family in the last few days and came to the decision, he said. “I will today step down as the leader of the DA.”
Earlier The Citizen reported that Andre Duvenhage, a professor at the University of the North West said the starting point for Maimane’s decision to step down was a meeting the party had a year ago where there was a strategic decision made by the DA’s federal executive to go the ANC way in terms of their political ideology and guiding political principles, thus abandoning the principles that they had come to be known for.
Duvengage reportedly believes that a combination of factors contributed to the perception that Maimane underperformed as leader of the party and that the party’s reaction to this pushed him into a corner. “Since his leadership came into being after Helen Zille, factions within the party became more visible and arranged themselves according to racially ideological groups,” Duvenhage is quoted as saying.
Political academic Dr Dineo Skosana reportedly added that if you looked at past events with Zille fighting her way back into the party and Mashaba resigning, there was an internal contestation within the party. It appears Maimane is caught in the politics of the DA and the problems of the party not transforming its policy.
Related article:
https://northeasterntribune.co.za/244482/herman-mashaba-resigns-mayor-johannesburg/
