Maimane power play irks the old guard
Longer tenure ‘makes him less accountable’
● DA chief whip John Steenhuisen has blasted moves to extend party leader Mmusi Maimane’s term of office from three to five years, saying doing so would make it difficult to hold Maimane accountable.
Maimane loyalists have proposed that the party’s national conference, due to sit in Pretoria next weekend, amend the DA constitution to elect new leaders every five years.
Steenhuisen’s rejection of the amendment shows widening cracks in the party as it prepares to elect new leaders.
He has also objected to constitutional amendments seeking his removal and those of other DA leaders from the party’s national management committee, describing the proposed changes as centralisation of power in the hands of a few leaders and detrimental to the party’s system of “checks and balances”.
The proposed five-year term would also apply to other leadership positions in the party if adopted.
Steenhuisen’s scathing criticism of the constitutional amendments is contained in a letter he sent to delegates to the national congress, at which Maimane is expected to be re-elected unopposed.
His letter has lifted the lid on the power struggle in the DA ahead of the congress. Steenhuisen joins other MPs who are opposed to Maimane’s moves to change the party, such as Gavin Davis and Michael Cardo, who last week expressed their opposition to constitutional amendments to promote racial representation in the party.
In his letter, Steenhuisen said extending Maimane’s term would make it difficult for the DA to hold him accountable regularly. “One thing that distinguishes the DA from other parties is the . . . opportunity we give our members to hold their leaders accountable at regular intervals.
“Our opponents were stuck with a corrupt president who systematically destroyed the brand of his party precisely because of the five-year mandate he received in 2012.”
Steenhuisen said it was also not good enough to argue that holding a national conference every three years had become too expensive. “The argument advanced on the basis of cost is a straw-man argument. It is surely up to us, as the membership of the party, to decide whether or not we hold expensive congresses.
“If the choice is between a glitzy madefor-television extravaganza every five years and a low-key elective congress every three years, then we must opt for the latter.
“A congress is not an election campaign launch; it is an opportunity for the party to take stock of itself, to focus on policy formulation, leadership accountability and strategic direction.
“Unchecked and unaccountable leadership for a period of five years could cause significant harm to the democratic health of our party. While it may seem a perfectly comfortable proposal under the current leadership incumbents, we should not craft our constitution with these . . . in mind.”
Steenhuisen is also lobbying congress delegates to shoot down a proposal to remove him and other party leaders from the national management committee, which handles the day-to-day affairs of the party.
The proposal would see the deputy chairman of the federal council, Thomas Walters, federal chairman of finance Dion George, and the parliamentary leader removed.
It has been proposed that Maimane be allowed to “co-opt” his preferred leaders on to the committee.
Federal council chairman James Selfe is also expected to be re-elected unopposed next weekend, while federal executive chairman Athol Trollip will be challenged by Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga.
Steenhuisen yesterday confirmed penning the document.
Selfe declined to comment.
Our opponents were stuck with a corrupt president John Steenhuisen DA chief whip