“We’ve gone back to the drawing board, we’re looking at our weaknesses, consolidating on our strengths and we’re learning from our mistakes.”
These are the words of DA Eastern Cape provincial leader Nqaba Bhanga after the resignation of yet another prominent party leader Mbali Ntuli, who was a KwaZulu-Natal MPL.
He said DA members should be concerned when leaders leave. “It’s not nice when colleagues leave because these are people you shared ideologies with. We’re concerned as the DA.
“It wasn’t nice when [former DA leader] Mmusi Maimane left, it wasn’t nice when [former DA federal chair Athol] Trollip left and it’s not nice when other leaders leave,” Bhanga told Sowetan.
Nelson Mandela University political analyst Dr Ntsikelelo Breakfast placed race at the centre of the resignations, saying the DA was fractured by factions — the black caucus and the white liberals and conservatives.
“White conservatives have been trying to reclaim the party and unfortunately, the strategy of the black caucus was to fight this from within. Unfortunately, they've lost,” Breakfast said.
Breakfast said the only black people who will survive are those who will conform to the party to make ends meet.
But Bhanga, who had served as an MPL in the Eastern Cape legislature before being elected mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay in December 2020, shot this down, saying he left an R80,000 salary for that of a councillor which saw it reduced by nearly R50,000.
“I left the provincial parliament to become an ordinary councillor. How can one say we’re there for a cheque?” he asked.
Ntuli is the latest prominent member to have left the party, following the likes of former MP Phumzile van Damme and former Midvaal mayor Bongani Baloyi.
Political analyst Prof Mcebisi Ndletyana questioned if there were any black leaders still left in the party.
“Are there any still left? Mbali is following the exodus of black leaders since the re-election of Helen Zille [as federal council chair]. I'm not sure if there are any progressive black leaders left. If there are any, it's because they don't want to lose a cheque,” he said.
Ndletyana said the DA was no longer about transracial politics but about consolidating white conservative votes.
“Under former leader Tony Leon, the DA were protectors of white privilege. They brought in Helen to bring in white liberals due to her past as an anti-apartheid journalist.
“She tried to transcend racial lines but remained conservative and clashed with Lindiwe Mazibuko because she never wanted to address affirmative action,” he said.
Ndletyana added that none of the prominent black leaders took centre-stage during campaigning for the 2021 local government elections.
Ntuli announced her resignation on Twitter, saying she did not take the decision lightly but that it was one that was necessary for her own growth.
Revealing she has faced challenges within the DA, Ntuli said her colleagues knew the difficulties she had experienced.
“I have been forthright about instances where the DA has erred in its treatment of its members and the negative culture that is fostered within the organisation, my opposition to which informed part of my year-long campaign for DA leader in 2020,” she said.
DA KwaZulu-Natal provincial leader Francois Rogers wished Ntuli well as she began the new chapter in her life.
“The DA in KZN acknowledges receipt of Mbali Ntuli’s resignation letter. As the DA in KZN, we would like to take this opportunity to thank Mbali for her contribution to different structures over the past 15 years,” Rogers said.
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