DA guru is back – under a cloud

NGWENYA: ZILLE PUSHED FOR GWEN’S RETURN AS HEAD OF POLICY AMID SOME GRUMBLES

Call for Steenhuisen to endorse her or stand firm against her appointment.

Former Democratic Allliance (DA) policy guru Gwen Ngwenya reported for duty yesterday amid reported resistance from the party’s federal council. Ngwenya disagreed with the direction the party was taking under then leader Mmusi Maimane in supporting policies that seemed similar to the ANC’s black economic empowerment ideas, leading to her resigning as head of policy.

News24 reported that the DA was clashing over new federal chair Helen Zille’s decision to reinstate Ngwenya, saying the decision was met with resistance.

Members of the executive and federal council reportedly raised concerns on Sunday. It is understood the executive discussed the matter and some members were uncomfortable about the processes that were followed and an apparent lack of transparency.

“Part of the debate was on how the process unfolded,” a party leader said. “When was it advertised? Zille explained that, due to time constraints, Ngwenya was the most suited as she had previously played the role of policy head for the DA.”

It was raised again during the federal council meeting, which elected parliamentary leader John Steenhuisen as interim leader and Ivan Meyer as the replacement for former federal chair Athol Trollip.

Trollip resigned along with Maimane, although he is still a member of the party.

Insiders say there was “pushback” against the idea to bring Ngwenya back into the leadership fold of the council, which is the party’s highest decision-making structure outside of the federal congress.

“Just her (Ngwenya) as a person, did not go down well with some in the council,” another source said.

“There are concerns about how she left her role, that she brought the organisation into disrepute and people didn’t feel comfortable with the processes followed by Zille,” added a second source.

The second insider said Ngwenya could not be treated as if she was the only policy guru in the country and added it was best to open up the process and allow those who had an interest to apply for the post.

Another council member said if Ngwenya was reappointed, it would signal the beginning of the end for Steenhuisen.

The senior member said Steenhuisen, who, he believed, was against Ngwenya’s reappointment, needed to show his independence early.

“I don’t care if she is appointed, but someone must take that action – not Helen, it must be John. We want to see what he will do in his first days. Will he endorse her? This will give us an idea on who we are working with. John must say if he wants Gwen employed and if he does, he must accept the consequences and be able to deal with the fallout that comes with that decision.

“You appoint Gwen, you inherit her image, her faction and the divisions that come with her. You can’t duck and dive forever.”

When asked about Ngwenya’s name coming up during deliberations, Steenhuisen said it was still an ongoing process.

“The federal executive will be convening later this week but that is not my lane, that is Zille’s lane. She will be leading that discussion,” Steenhuisen said during a media briefing shortly after he was elected interim leader.

Zille, defending her actions, said she did what she needed to do because time was not on the DA’s side. She insisted she “meticulously” followed due process.

She also said her decision was partly because the federal council gave her a mandate to urgently start the process towards the party’s policy conference in April 2020.

“I followed absolutely every process in HR and on the resolutions of federal council and I took it to NMC (national management committee), which is allowed to take decisions and I went through all the processes,” said Zille.

Zille, who didn’t seem fazed by the concerns raised, questioned which processes members of the federal executive and federal council were unhappy about, saying no one specified which process she failed to adhere to.

“They are saying I should have consulted the newly elected chairperson; he was very much part of the discussions. But he had not been elected federal chairperson yet, but he was there,” Zille said. She was referring to Meyer.

The federal council chairperson said the matter remained on the table and would be discussed again on Friday.

City Press reported over the weekend that Ngwenya was “likely” to return as the party’s head of policy.

It also said she may become the party’s next parliamentary leader.

Ngwenya told The Citizen she’d prefer not to comment, and would leave it to the party to do so.

– danielf@citizen.co.za – Additional reporting by News24 Wire

I followed absolutely every process in HR