The Democratic Alliance (DA), the official opposition in the country, has been through a tumultuous period in the South African political landscape lately. Most of its problems were self-inflicted and remain largely unresolved. DA has witnessed its high profile of black leaders fall, arguably, on their own volition: In 2018, it saw the Head of Policy Gwen Gwenya quit and embattled ex-Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille – who went on to form her own political party – begrudgingly stepped down; in 2019, Solly Msimanga and Herman “The People’s Mayor” Mashaba resigned as Tshwane mayor and Johannesburg mayor respectively, and then with a seismic thud, DA Leader Mmusi Maimamne fell on his sword. Will the rocky DA ship be stabilized and steered to a mercurial rise again under the new interim leader or continue shedding votes at the polls?
John Steenhuisen was elected the Interim Leader of the Democratic Alliance at Nkululeko House in Johannesburg following the elective gathering at the party’s Federal Council on Nov. 17, 2019.
Vying for the DA’s hotseat was Makashule Gana, MPL in Gauteng, whom Steenhuisen eclipsed yesterday. To draw from the effervescent political analyst Gogo Aubrey Mashiqi’s inquisitive words: Is this the new dawn or the “new yawn”?
It will be fascinating to learn how John Steenhuisen articulates his inclusive political ideology and policies which Maimane, Mashaba and Gwen did not succeed to sell to the party’s old guard and its rank and file. The pragmatism of hammering and curving out futuristic policies that will not only resonate but also work for its electorate and the millions of downtrodden citizens it hopes to inveigle and represent at some point.
Steenhuisen has an unenviable task of uniting and transforming the party polarized by racism and classism among others stumbling blocks. Yet, he has to contend with balancing all these challenges with DA’s consecutive staunch supporters and funders holding firm one of their bastion of (white) domination in a country whose population is largely (80%) black, diverse and underdeveloped.
A point raised in various political debates around the country concerning the vociferous marriage of DA leadership and its mammoth quest to lure the black majority to mount any challenge to the governing age-old African National Congress (ANC) which experienced its fair share of ravaging storms in the past few years.
The election of the interim leader over the weekend may have thrust Steenhuisen at the cold face of racialised politics in South Africa, and deliberately positioned him to catch a falling knife with bare hands.
The vacant leadership position became available when Mmusi Maimane resigned on Oct. 23, 2019 as the legitimate elected DA leader of the party and its head in Parliament. Maimane jumped ship upon Helen Zille’s election as the new DA Federal Council Chair four days prior (his resignation). Former DA federal chairperson Anthol Trollip, who walked the plank with Maimane on the same capitulation day, was replaced by Western Cape agriculture MEC Ivan Meyer.
One of DA’s critical positions is that of the “Head of Policy” previously held by Gwen Ngwenya who resigned under a thick cloud. A very capable and professional youth. Her reasons for calling it a day were broad. But among them in the office she occupied were lack of sufficient resources, distant leadership support, unspecified job description and quite generally, internal party politics.
Although Steenhuisen had a high profile than Gana, commented political analyst Prof. Somadoda Fikeni on Radio 2000 today, his election seem to affirm Democratic Alliance’s resistance to diversify.
From the professor’s perspective, there is no definitive strategy for DA to show and act out its progressive colors meaningfully despite recent strides made in sprinkling few leaders of color its top echelon ranks. Therefore, the latest developments in there show a marked regression.
It would seem that instead of th eparty normalizing along with with societal rearrangement and empowering black leaders to dispel their long-held myths and stereotypes, the party entrenches its status quo of an elitist white minority rule at executive and/or management level, and it does not want to let go.
Whether Steenhuisen will retain his caretaker position and become the permanent leader of the party, it will be determined on the DA’s national elective congress in May 2020. As the adage goes: a week in politics is a long time.
The reckoning duration of his stay as Interim Head will also depend on the ever changing currencies within the party and his appetite to stand in 2020. Until such time, all concerned stakeholders will observe keenly how he will duck and dive all the political missiles from inside and outside the party distined towards his direction.