Squabble costs DA

IF THERE’S an investment the DA can make, it is to send its leader on a crash course in public relations. Leader Mmusi Maimane came to Cape Town at a time that his party has serious internal squabbles relating to mayor Patricia de Lille, whose future is at stake.

She tackled the DA head on after it decided to probe and charge her for bringing it into disrepute. The battle lines within the DA caucus in Cape Town have since been drawn.

The caucus voted in favour of a vote of no confidence in the mayor. Should De Lille be shown the door, the consequences for the DA could include losing the support of the metro’s coloured voters. The DA’s rival, the ANC, lies in wait.

All these shenanigans are taking place at a time when Cape Town faces its biggest challenge – running out of water.

The country’s best-run city is saddled with two problems – the party in control is deeply divided and it is weeks away from having no water. The latter is an issue best dealt with by the municipality, which has the support of the national government and many civil-minded consumers.

But in walks Maimane, who announces that as the DA leader, he is taking charge of how the DA responds to the water crisis.

However, he was found wanting about what water plans were in place, if any at all. A Cape Town resident who challenged him was forcefully removed from Wednesday’s meeting on the water crisis, adding to the embarrassment that Maimane was causing his party.

Instead of dealing with the rift in the DA caucus, Maimane ventured into a domain that is not his. And to aggravate a bad situation, he wanted to place Cape Town’s water problem at the door of the national government.

DA leaders can do well to remind their leader it is their party that has governed Cape Town for over a decade.

They can also tell him the water crisis of the DA flagship should have been foreseen ages ago. It is childish of Maimane to shift the blame.

The mature thing to do is for the DA to separate its domestic tiffs from the running of a metro with a clear plan on what do to when the taps run dry.