We are united, says DA

FICTITIOUS: OPPOSITION DISMISSES REPORTS OF A PARTY SPLIT

‘I am part of the DA top six, I know nothing about a plan to remove James,’ says Refiloe Nt’sekhe.

The Democratic Alliance has refuted weekend news reports it is facing a split and that there are moves to oust the party’s federation council chairperson James Selfe due to his alleged shoddy handling of the Patricia de Lille saga.

Party national spokesperson Refiloe Nt’sekhe described the reports as rubbish, gossip and fictitious.

She said the fact that those who made allegations about a breakaway from the DA to form another party were anonymous was an indication that a breakaway did not exist.

“We don’t know where this comes from, there is no possible split in the DA at all,” Nt’sekhe said. “When you look at this logically, it is impossible in South Africa to start a party on the eve of an election.

“As the DA, we are united, nobody wants to contest Mmusi [Maimane] presently, I don’t think these people exist, anyway.”

City Press reported at the weekend there were DA members who planned to split from the DA and establish a new party because they were unhappy with the direction that the party was taking under leader Maimane.

It is not clear whether the alleged dissatisfaction was due to Maimane’s statement about the need to deal with white privilege and to address black poverty.

Maimane was heavily criticised for this statement by senior leaders, who were concerned about its potential to alienate traditional party voters, meaning white people.

Also under Maimane, there is an ongoing push for the DA to transform to include blacks in the top echelon of the party.

This matter was not steamrolled during a debate at the April elective federal congress and no concrete resolution was made, which left many black members dissatisfied. But Nt’sekhe maintained there was no challenge against Maimane and the fact that he had been elected unanimously at the recent federation congress indicated the confidence in him.

“We don’t know where this [rumour] comes from, we know that the party is very united. I don’t believe that there was a meeting to start another party, we don’t know of anybody who wants to leave the DA,” Nt’sekhe said.

However, she stressed that anyone who wanted to leave the party was welcome to do so because the DA believed in freedom of association. “Those who choose to leave are allowed to leave as we did with Nosimo Balindlela, who went back to the ANC,” she said.

Regarding the report that Maimane and the party chief whip, John Steenhuisen, were unhappy with the way that Selfe had handled the De Lille saga, Nt’sekhe said the matter never came up in the leadership meetings, which sat weekly. She said the attendees at such meetings included Maimane, Steenhuisen and Selfe.

The Sunday Times reported that Selfe was accused of having weakened the case against De Lille by saying that she had been fired because she had told a radio station she intended to resign.

“I am part of the DA top six, I know nothing about a plan to remove James. At no time in the meeting did Mmusi and John question James about anything ,” Nt’sekhe said.

“We are a democratic party, but once a matter has been agreed at caucus, we all have to fall in line and speak with one voice.”

We know of no meeting to start a breakaway faction.