Mzwanele Manyi weighs in on Mmusi Maimane and the future of the DA
As DA leader Mmusi Maimane stands firm in the face of fire, insisting there is a co-ordinated smear campaign against him, many are predicting his fate has been sealed.
African Transformation Movement (ATM) founder Mzwanele Manyi joined the conversation, predicting that Maimane's days as leader of the opposition are numbered.
The DA has reached its point of saturation with black people. They are now beggining to lose support from white people mainly to FF+ and to some extent to the ANC.
— Mzwanele Manyi (@MzwaneleManyi) October 2, 2019
With Mmusi soon gone, the real Democratic Party of Tony Leon will emerge, I beg your pardon, Alan Winde's https://t.co/0Vseav7XQL
In an opinion piece, Institute of Race Relations (IRR) writer and analyst Herman Pretorius endorsed Western Cape premier Alan Winde as best suited to lead what he said is a “leaderless DA”. Pretorius lamented that Maimane's “weakening reputation” will cost the DA its status as the only major party which has not been implicated in undue gain and corruption.
Pretorius further said that although Winde is the man for Maimane's job, he will be robbed of the opportunity to take over the reins because he is white.
“I want the DA to reject the notion that the skin colour of politicians has any bearing on their ability to improve the lives of their constituents. I want the DA to be honest with the people of South Africa and to declare: we think this pale male, with his record in government, is the best person for the job of leading our country out of the doldrums, and if you care about his skin colour, you are the racist, not us.”
The DA's John Steenhuisen lashed out at Pretorius and accused the IRR of meddling in the party's internal politics, while masquerading as an independent NGO.
Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba accused the IRR of being a threat to the country's democracy.