DA sparks speculation with ‘emergency’ talks
MEMBERS of the DA’s federal executive have been summoned from across the country to Johannesburg at very short notice for an unscheduled meeting today.
The agenda has been kept secret from many of them.
The federal executive is the highest decision-making authority in the DA outside of its federal congress, which is scheduled to take place in Port Elizabeth in May.
The DA constitution states that “the federal executive represented by the chairperson of the federal council [currently James Selfe] may act on behalf of and legally bind the party in all matters”.
Ad hoc meetings of the federal executive are normally conducted via telephone conferencing; it is unusual for members to fly to a physical venue.
Selfe did not answer his phone yesterday. A source close to him said that Selfe was not allowed to make any comment on today’s agenda.
Executive members admitted to being “nervous”, and “in the dark”, while one said the reason for the meeting had to be “quite fundamental” for it to be called at such short notice and with a secret agenda.
All members to whom the Sunday Times spoke said that they had only been contacted on Friday, and none knew what was on the agenda. Some called it an “emergency” meeting.
It was also unusual that neither party leader Helen Zille nor those in her inner circle could be reached for comment yesterday.
Zille, Selfe, party CEO Paul Boughey and party strategist Gavin Davis did not answer their mobile phones when contacted yesterday.
Selfe’s deputy, Thomas Walters, confirmed that the meeting had been called, that the agenda was confidential, that it would take place in Johannesburg, and that its content would be shared with the media if the DA deemed it fit to do so.
Contacted yesterday, DA national chairman Wilmot James said he had just returned from Qatar and would be attending the discussions but had not been advised of the agenda. He referred all questions to Selfe.
Zille’s spokeswoman, Ntomboxolo Makoba-Somdaka, would not answer the question when asked whether the federal congress might be postponed as the party’s congresses in the North West, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal had been — because of administrative problems.
The May federal congress is due to discuss a range of crucial changes, including amendments to the party’s constitution, all of which might require consultation with members of the party’s federal executive.
Some in the DA said they wondered if closer co-operation with another party could be on the cards, or that Zille might announce that she was stepping down, but due to the veil of secrecy all of this was speculative.