‘Desperate Alliance’ can’t see writing on the wall

THE MONIKER “Desperate Alliance” is becoming more and more real for the DA as there is clearly no end in sight for them in the De Lille saga from a reputational damage point of view.

And now mealy-mouthed former acting mayor Ian Neilson has weighed in with a rather startling comment after the high court judgment, that the de jure mayor can just sit in her office and drink tea.

Trading on the fact that De Lille has lost the support of 70% of the DA caucus, Neilson has a perception that this is the greatest source of strength for his political ambitions. But then he shoots himself in the foot by boldly declaring that the City is functioning perfectly well without a mayor.

I trust he will hold steadfastly to that view when De Lille is eventually forced out, and doesn’t make himself available for a job, in his view, that the City does not need.

This must be a first in local government politics, a prospective candidate for a post declaring himself redundant!

Two questions need, however, to be asked. The first is how many of the 70% of DA caucus members are siding with their party on principle, or are just plain scared for their jobs. The second question is which tree did the DA pluck the blonde Natasha Mazzone from?

The bombastic woman is a PR disaster, even declaring a High Court judgment against her party as a “victory for the DA”. And fabricating spin on how De Lille is wasting ratepayers’ money by clinging to her job, is just so shallow.

PW Botha, the former apartheid prime minister, was known as the intransigent Groot Krokodil. The current right-wing leadership of the DA has seemingly morphed into a similar prehistoric creature, unable to discern the writing on the wall.

GEORGE HECTOR Heathfield