Zille’s fate in DA hangs in the balance
Failure to suspend her could lead to Maimane ‘losing face’ among voters
The DA will today decide whether Helen Zille’s representations are good enough to prevent her suspension pending the disciplinary process against her.
DA federal executive chairman James Selfe confirmed that Zille had met yesterday’s deadline to provide representations on why she should not be suspended.
The party’s leadership will hold a teleconference today to discuss Zille’s submission -which had not yet been distributed to its federal executive committee by late last night.
The battle in the DA has put Zille up against party leader Mmusi Maimane, with former leader Tony Leon also weighing in with a call on Zille to step down from her post as premier of the Western Cape.
Zille holds the most senior government position in the DA, but does not have a formal post in the party.
The bitter battle is broader than a disagreement over the offensive tweets but also relates to the direction of the party.
Zille, in response to e-mailed questions yesterday, said she could speculate on the motives behind the hardline stance against her, but that this “would not help the situation”.
Responding to calls by Leon for her to step aside, she said it was clear that there has been “coordination” behind the scenes in the calls for her to go.
“If one joins the dots, and links all of those popping up out of the woodwork, it is clear that there has been some coordination behind the scenes.”
The differences over the trajectory of the party included the DA’s entering cooperation agreements with the EFF to govern Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay, according to insiders.
Zille yesterday said she agreed with the political realignment announced by Maimane last month and has argued for it and in some cases facilitated it. “The most important objective must be governing well if one wins an election.”
The former leader’s tweets on colonialism has damaged the party brand ahead of the 2019 elections, internal polling has shown. While she had apologised for them, subsequent opinion pieces written by the premier, one in which she compared the DA to the ANC, angered party bosses.
Zille said she did not believe open debate would damage the party in the long term.
Weighing in on the perceived fight with Maimane, she said: “I believe in open debate and it is rarely damaging over the long term. It is an entirely natural phenomenon for a new leader to want to flex his muscles, especially in relation to a former leader.”
Sowetan’s sister publication Business Day understands that Zille’s reasons why she should not be suspended would have to be watertight to avert her suspension, as the furore over her tweets on colonialism has been damaging to the party at a time when it should be preparing for the 2019 polls.
According to sources, a failure to suspend her could cause Maimane to “lose face” among voters who were offended by her tweets. Senior party insiders, who wished to remain anonymous, said should Maimane back down, he would find himself in a “weakened position” in the party.
This is particular after he on Saturday announced Zille’s suspension only to be corrected shortly thereafter with a statement from Selfe indicating that she would first present reasons why she should not be suspended from party activities.
The disciplinary process against her kicks off on Friday.