Cape Town’s dirty wars
Dramatic turn as mayoral interviews are postponed
A dirty fight over the control of Cape Town metro has rocked the DA in the run-up to the local elections expected to take place by November this year.
Sunday World has established that on Monday, the party had to indefinitely postpone the interviews for the powerful mayoral position following disputes over the composition of the panel to interview candidates.
Cape Town is one of the three metros in the country governed by the official opposition.
DA insiders said the battle over who succeeds the incumbent, Dan Plato, has taken a dramatic turn.
This emerged as Western Cape premier Alan Winde this week suspended
his transport and public works MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela over allegations of misleading the public about the status of his qualifications.
Madikizela is in the running for the powerful Cape Town post and his backers believe that the allegations regarding his qualifications are part of a smear campaign to block his ascendency to the position.
Other mayoral hopefuls include Plato and MP Geordin Hill-lewis, who is said
to enjoy the support of the party’s leader John Steenhuisen and the powerful “white bloc” in the organisation.
“The battle is about the mayoral candidate. The interviews were supposed to happen on Monday. There is no new date because of the dispute over panel members,” a source said. “It is about eliminating Madikizela again. Bongi has better credentials than Geordin, given he has experience in government.”
Another DA leader said the chickens were coming home to roost for Madikizela, who was once an ally of DA federal chairperson Helen Zille. “If he doesn’t resign, they will unleash scandals,” the leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
Just hours after being suspended on Thursday, the party announced that
Madikizela had “voluntarily” stepped aside as the provincial leader for the next two weeks pending a probe into the saga.
The party’s federal legal commission (FLC) was investigating the allegations that Madikizela claims to have acquired a Bcom degree, which he does not hold.
It is not the first time that Madikizela is targeted. The FLC cleared Madikizela after it was alleged, in the run-up to the party’s provincial conference, that he had ordered a hit on the speaker of the provincial parliament Masizole Mnqasela. Both were contesting for the throne of the party in the Western Cape, the only province governed by the party.
On Friday, the party’s chief whip Natasha Mazzone had to fight off allegations by Good Party’s secretary-general Brett Herron that she had also lied about having trained as an advocate.
Mazzone, like Steenhuisen, only holds a matric certificate.
DA spokesperson Siviwe Gwerube did not respond to repeated requests for comment while Madikizela could not be reached for comment.
Hill-lewis said: “I’m grateful for this support, not only for me personally but for the ideas and vision I am putting forward for Cape Town. But the process is arduous.”