I will play a background role, says Zille
New chair of DA federal executive council says sceptics should judge her ‘by how I am’ in her bid to unify party
Newly appointed DA federal council chair Helen Zille is adamant she will not step on party leader Mmusi Maimane’s toes and plans to play a background role in the party leadership in her new position.
In an interview with Business Day on Monday, Zille said those who were sceptical of her return to the DA leadership had to “just judge me by how I am”.
“I will certainly try to stay in my lane and I am very committed to that. People know I am a strong personality … but what they don’t know is how well I can play a background role … and I have done many of those in my life,” she said.
Zille was elected as the DA’s federal council chair on Sunday at a meeting of the council in Bruma, Johannesburg. It is arguably the most powerful position in the party.
The position fell vacant after the incumbent, James Selfe, announced his resignation following the bruising May 2019 general election in which the DA lost support for the first time.
Selfe will now take up the position of head of the party’s governance unit.
Zille’s return to the top leadership comes more than three years after she stepped down as leader of the DA and was replaced by Maimane.
Zille and Maimane, who have had differences in the past, will now have to navigate the new power relations.
She will be chairing her first federal executive meeting on Wednesday in the wake of Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba’s resignation.
Mashaba’s resignation was influenced by Zille’s election as federal council chair.
“Herman Mashaba joined the party when I was the leader ... and when I subscribe to exactly the same values and the vision that I subscribe to now, so my question is, what has changed? It is still me,” Zille said.
The emergency federal executive meeting will discuss the way forward for the DA in the Johannesburg metro.
Zille said she would be undertaking a thorough examination of the functions of the federal council chair, which Selfe had carefully set out to the review committee.
She has three priorities as federal council chair, Zille said on Monday. One will be to give effect to the many resolutions passed at last weekend’s meeting at which she was elected. These include resolutions to hold an early congress, establish a policy review committee, and convene a policy conference.
The party has been going through a tumultuous time that has created strong divisions on what direction it should be taking, especially after the May election results.
When Zille made the surprise announcement that she was standing for election to the federal council chair, she explained that the DA had gone through a period of turmoil and distress and had to reflect, introspect and begin the process of reconnection with voters.
She said if she were elected, her objective would be to support the leadership in its goal of stabilising the DA and bringing it back on track.
On Monday Zille said she had stood on a ticket of unifying the party. “I will do my very best within the mandate of the chair of the federal council to achieve that,” she said.
Whether and how Zille’s actions will express her words will be critical for how the party deals with the task of finding a way forward.