Take Leon’s sage advice

CLAIMING she had been misrepresented by the Sunday Times, DA leader Helen Zille issued a lengthy statement yesterday accusing some newspapers of harbouring journalists with “factional agendas” regarding the DA.

In her statement Zille denied, as was reported, that at a party federal executive meeting on Friday, she said she had “saved” her ex-crown princess, Lindiwe Mazibuko, or that she had “made” her or that Mazibuko would be “nothing without me”.

Space – and frankly, fear of boring our readers – stopped us from elaborating in this editorial on what may have been journalistic interpretation or political obfuscation. Suffice to say the picture that has emerged has two main elements: First, it is of a political leader with a record of making some fairly narcissistic, bitchy comments, who is now fighting for all she is worth to preserve her name amid her second messy political bust up within a few months.

And second, it is of a political leader who, amid all the verbage, seems to have lost sight of probably the most important issue, and this goes to structure rather than personality. It simply is this: in its current format – having the party leader outside parliament – the DA is not working. The party may have swelled numerically but it has landed smack in the middle of the thing that the ANC almost tore itself asunder trying to avoid – having two centres of power.

That the relationship between Mazibuko and Zille would explode at some point was predictable. Both are smart, ambitious and headstrong. One certainly has more experience and was used to doing things her way. The other, perhaps short on experience, was equally determined, and perhaps impatient, to run her own show. No wonder the “Berlin Wall” went up and then came crashing down.

But these are the typical tensions of politics, of the corporate world, indeed of life. What is important is how one manages them. From a mature politician one would hope for gravitas. By getting into the minutiae, Zille protests too much and misses the big picture. She should take the advice of her predecessor, Tony Leon, and go to parliament. Her current strategy of “setting the record straight” looks more like hanging out dirty laundry.

Is this seriously what opposition politics has been reduced to? Helen Suzman must be turning in her grave and the ANC laughing their heads off.