DA quashes speculation race will influence voting
‘Nothing wrong with senior leaders expressing their support for a particular candidate’
RACE will not be a factor as 2 000 delegates of the DA virtually elect their new leader during the party’s national elective congress over the weekend following the dramatic exit of former party leader Mmusi Maimane last October.
As delegates prepare themselves for the all-important congress tomorrow and Sunday – all eyes will be on front runners for the post of party leader, former DA Youth leader Mbali Ntuli and former party chief whip and now interim leader John Steenhuisen.
Yesterday, however, DA congress presiding officer Greg Krumbock dismissed growing speculation that the outcome of the congress was likely to be influenced by racial preferences.
This came after various former DA leaders and provincial party leaders expressed their leadership choice on various platforms including mainstream and social media.
The latest DA stalwart to throw his weight behind Steenhuisen was former chief whip in the National Assembly, Douglas Gibson, who said the DA needed a “mature” and “experienced” leader to take it forward.
“I think you don’t send in your third team to go into a rugby test, you put your first team in. I think Mbali, nice as she is, clever as she is, good as she is, I think she is a little early. The DA has tried this on two occasions and has flopped,” Gibson said.
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has also posted his support for Steenhuisen on Facebook.
But Krumbock was adamant that race would not be a factor during voting, saying both candidates were enjoying support across the racial groupings.
He said his party did not find anything wrong in some of the senior party leaders expressing their support for a particular candidate.
“Everyone is allowed to express his or her support for any candidate. Various party members have been expressing their support for the two candidates. The DA is a diverse party and support for these two candidates is also diverse,” Krumbock said.
He said 1 200 delegates would be online while 800 would use hybrid venues.
Each hybrid venue will be organised in line with Covid-19 restrictions and there will be laptops for delegates who will be voting.
There will be a deputy presiding officer at each venue to oversee and assist delegates.
Krumbock said the voting system would open at 11am tomorrow and would be open for five hours – giving enough time for delegates to cast their votes.
Through the Opavote system, and to ensure no double voting takes place, each delegate would receive an SMS link accompanied by a unique user ID to enable them to vote.