The Democratic Alliance (DA) insists there’s nothing secretive or odd about party leader, Mmusi Maimane, wanting to throw his hat in the ring for the position of Western Cape Premier. Maimane’s spokesperson has confirmed he’s considering taking up the post and that he’s doing so in the best interests of the party. But at least one analyst believes the move will heighten existing tensions in the party.
The DA had scheduled a press conference for Sunday to reveal their Premier candidate for the Western Cape.
But just 24 hours before that announcement the party called it off. The reason given was that the party wants to make public its choice for Premier and that of its mayoral candidate for the City of Cape Town at the same time.
“The leader’s key consideration is what is in the best interest for the party, for the DA, and for the residents of the Western Cape as well. He is still considering the matter,” says Maimane’s Spokesperson, Portia Adams.
But why the sudden interest?, Is one of the questions that comes to mind. Another would be whether it’s in line with party processes to choose the premier candidate? And why did the DA not announce Maimane’s intentions through normal media platforms? None of the other Premier hopefuls were available for comment on Sunday.
Lecturer at Stellenbosch University’s School of Public Leadership Zweli Ndevu says the news comes as a surprise, but believes with current tensions in the DA, it’s probably not shocking news.
“I think there are already tensions within the DA. This worsens the situation and it says that the DA does not trust the Western Cape leadership. Because there were already candidates that were standing for the post, or were going to be evaluated, so it says that they do not trust the leaders they have in the Western Cape. And also it will create more tension between the Western Cape leadership and the federal leadership in the DA.”
The DA is now expected to announce their Western Cape Premier candidate as well as that of the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral candidate on Tuesday.
