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DA Deputy Federal Chairperson throws weight behind Zille’s report on black leadership within the party

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The Democratic Alliance (DA) Deputy Federal Chairperson, Refiloe Nt’sekhe, has thrown her weight behind the party’s Federal Chairperson, Helen Zille, following her reports on black leadership within the country’s second-largest party.

Zille said the resignation of former DA member and member of the Gauteng Legislature, Makashule Gana, was not a setback.

Nt’sekhe spoke to SABC News at Constitutional Hill in Johannesburg on Thursday when the party launched a billboard calling for the removal of Bheki Cele as the Police Minister.

“Generally, when people leave the DA, people just tend to focus on black leaders leaving, but nobody realises we have black leaders leaving and black leaders coming in. So, for Helen to publish that was trying to prove a point to say yes, we may have lost one or two leaders, but we still have a lot of black leaders within the organisation.”

“So, I think it was just to emphasise the fact that the DA is not represented in terms of black members within the organisation. But also, no one pays attention when our white counterparts leave the organisation and we’ve lost a lot. If you look at the demographics of the country, we’ve actually got more black people than white people so why are we only focusing on black people?”

Gana’s resignation 

Gana resigned from the part after having served it for 20 years.

He joins a string of other black leaders including most recently Mbali Ntuli, who said her decision to leave the party was necessary for her growth as a community leader.

Former Midvaal Mayor and DA member, Bongani Baloyi, also resigned from the party early this year in January and has since joined Action SA.

Speaking to SABC News about his resignation, Gana said the state of the country led to his departure.

“I decided to leave the DA today, looking at the state of the country, where South Africa is, where a lot of South Africans are living in fear. Where the cost of living is rising, unemployment is rising and the ship is sinking. I decided that something needs to be done. I want to be part of the generation of young leaders who want to be part of the alternative to that which currently exists in South Africa,” says  Gana.

In the video below, Gana speaks of his resignation: 

-Additional reporting by SABC News 

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