Race for Joburg mayor splits caucus along racial lines
DA leaders draw daggers over control of metro
With the DA reeling from its poor performance during this week’s municipal by-elections, it has now emerged that a nasty battle is ensuing for the party’s mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, the country’s economic hub.
This comes hot on the heels of another murky battle for the party’s mayoral candidacy for the City of Cape Town, which has seen one of the contestants, DA leader in the Western Cape Bonginkosi Madikizela, accused of misrepresenting his qualifications.
Two factions in the DA’S Joburg caucus are allegedly deeply divided over racial lines about who should be the official opposition’s candidate for the mayorship of Joburg metro, which commands one of the biggest budgets in the country.
Insiders allege that white supporters of the DA caucus leader in Johannesburg, Leah Knott, who is also a former member of mayoral committee (MMC) of economic development in the city of Joburg, are pushing for her to be chosen as the mayoral candidate.
Black members of the caucus are rooting for the former MMC of health, Dr Mpho Phalatse, to become the party’s official candidate.
The fight among white and black members in Johannesburg has triggered new allegations that the DA is trying to drive black leaders out of the party by putting only whites in key positions.
“White DA leaders are fighting so bad to push for Leah to be chosen as a mayoral candidate. They are even using blackmail tactics to push Mpho back,” said a party insider.
Another top leader within the DA claimed that even some leaders in the echelons of the party was pushing for Knott to be chosen ahead of Phalatse.
“Black leaders are being targeted in the party and it is clear that white members are reclaiming the DA to themselves. Blacks are not part of DA plans and this is a clear indication that we need to see a way out,” said one DA leader who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal.
Knott told Sunday World that no one was pushing her to run for the position. “Neither of us has any clique backing us. We both went through a rigorous application process, ” she said.
“There is no division in our caucus over this, we are probably the strongest and most cohesive we have been in a while.”
Phalatse would only say: “The DA’S mayoral candidate selection process is still under way, so as per the rules of the party, I will not be engaging the media at this stage.”
Meanwhile, political analysts have attributed the ANC’S recent by-elections victory to the electorate’s interminable sense of forgiveness to the governing party, saying South Africans were under the spell of the ANC.
Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said the recent by-elections results showed abnormality and pointed to weaker opposition parties.
“It is very strange to see the ANC holding up while struggling so much to govern properly. It’s not politics of the issues, instead it is identity politics. This is a worrying trend because for instance, the DA performs well in governance, but they are being punished.
“This is a very strange turn of events. It looks likely that in the upcoming local government elections, although the ANC will not be getting into an overwhelming majority, it will hold stronger,” said Mathekga.
Another political analyst, Professor Tinyiko Maluleke attributed the ANC’S success to longevity, good political strategy and branding.
“Everybody knows that a new DA was created when Mmusi Maimane was booted out. In fact, the booting out of Maimane was part of the process of creating a new DA. That is a DA without Patricia De Lille, Herman Mashaba and Lindiwe Mazibuko.
“There has been a whitening of the DA led by Zille and Steenhuisen. More and more people will feel the distance especially black people between themselves and the DA.”
Black leaders are being targeted in the party