Picking up the pieces
The Democratic Alliance faces a critical period of rebuilding and will need credible leaders to arrest the slide after a string of high-profile resignations this week, says a political analyst.
Political analyst Zamikhaya Maseti says the current feud among Democratic Alliance (DA) leaders, accompanied by top level resignations, could precipitate in the emergence of black liberalism in South Africa led by Maimane with support from outgoing Johannesburg mayor, Herman Mashaba, and some white former DA members who believe in the pair’s vision and leadership abilities.
Maseti is adamant that the current political crisis in the DA is not racially motivated but was an ideological rupture between those who want to pull the party to the right and return it to its old white identity and conservative black leaders intent on following neo-liberalism that also accommodated the aspirations of the lower classes.
“To me, this is not a racial issue but the contestation of class and ideological forces within the party. This rupture compels us to relook at the relevance of liberalism in South Africa, putting into question the future of the liberalism as represented by the DA,” Maseti said.
“This is not a racial crisis as some commentators and journalists would like us to believe.
“In the DA, Maimane represented a diluted version of DA liberalism or an ideology that is diluted.”
The analyst said the DA would likely break up into the conservatives, who were mainly white, and new black liberals who want to pursue their vision away from the party.
He said there might emerge a black liberal party led by Maimane with support from Mashaba, Trollip and others.
“At the bottom of the hearts of those who are leaving the DA, is the desire to remove the ANC from power.
“It’s clear they want to push this narrative outside of the DA because they are unable to run their vision within that party. This means the formation of a black liberal party is in the offing,” Maseti said.
As liberals, both Maimane and Mashaba and those who believed in their vision, would not run to the ANC. Instead, they would continue to fight to remove the ruling party from power on their own.
As was the case with all new parties in South Africa, it’s not going to be a walk in the park for the black liberals.
“They will have to work very very hard to convince South Africans that they have something better to offer,” said Maseti.
At the bottom of the hearts of those who are leaving the DA, is the desire to remove the ANC from power. Zamikhaya Maseti Political analyst