Advocate to examine Mazzone election dispute

A senior advocate will look into the dispute over the election of the DA’s Natasha Mazzone as the second deputy chairwoman of the party’s federal council.

It has also emerged that four DA provincial leaders have taken the party’s national leadership to task over Mazzone’s appointment as second deputy.

Business Day understands that in addition to Khume Ramulifho writing to James Selfe about the matter, Western Cape leader Bonginkosi Madikizela, Free State leader Patricia Kopane, Gauteng leader John Moodey and KwaZulu-Natal leader Zwakele Mncwango have all raised concern about the issue with Selfe.

Mazzone’s election has been in dispute because she was voted in before the DA’s constitution was amended to provide for a second deputy to Selfe, the chairman of its federal council.

Her election was announced after the federal congress resolved that the position would be voted on at the next meeting of its federal council.

Ramulifho, a member of the Gauteng legislature who ran for one of the two deputy positions at the DA’s congress, first raised concern on the procedural issues surrounding Mazzone being voted second deputy.

Selfe told Business Day on Thursday that a meeting took place during which it was agreed to get an opinion by a senior advocate to determine if a decision taken by the DA’s federal council was permissible.

The DA was awaiting the legal opinion, said Selfe.

If the senior counsel’s opinion was that the DA went beyond its legal power or authority, the party would go to court to have the decision on Mazzone set aside .

However, if the senior counsel came to the opinion that the DA’s decision was lawful, Ramulifho agreed to abide by it.

Selfe confirmed that the four provincial leaders had raised their concern. There were also office bearers on the other side of the argument.