Zille should lead from the front, not the province

IN November last year, Lindiwe Mazibuko and several members of the DA’s so- called black caucus threw their weight behind the government’s employment equity policies.

DA leader Helen Zille then publicly ordered Mazibuko and the others to reverse their decision (and took steps to clip Mazibuko’s wings by encouraging the party’s national spokesman, Mmusi Maimane to challenge Mazibuko for her position as their parliamentary leader). This, apparently, resulted in Mazibuko’s decision to resign and she hid her decision until after the elections were over.

It is clear Zille’s eagerness to show that the DA was not a white party could result in the party being saddled with leaders who, upon her retirement, will turn the DA into a party that places racial interests above all others. In addition, it should be noted that the DA no longer needed to prove that it was capable of running a city or a province. It may be speculated that the only factor preventing Zille from going to Parliament and leading from the front is that, as premier, she receives a higher salary and more perks than she would as the DA’s parliamentary leader.

Notably, ex-party leader Tony Leon has argued that the leader of the DA should be leading in Parliament.

Several other stalwarts, including federal chairman Wilmot James, are saying the same thing.