Steenhuisen glosses over DA quitters — ‘It’s a silly season, like a transfer season in football’

John Steenhuisen addresses delegates at the Democratic Alliance Federal Conference held at Gallagher Convention centre in Midrand on 1 April 2023. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

By Queenin Masuabi

19 Jan 2024

DA leader John Steenhuisen believes there is nothing sinister about members leaving the party just months before the upcoming elections. He says the departure of some of its members creates space for new faces and fresh talent.

The DA has lost two of its public representatives this week alone, however, party leader John Steenhuisen believes it is nothing unusual especially in an election year.

“People come and go, it is the nature of the game. Any political system can be characterised by people who come and go. We have senior black leaders who are pulling their weight and doing the work and are there because of their excellence — people like [DA Chief Whip] Siviwe [Gwarube] and DA [spokesperson and second deputy federal chair] Solly [Malatsi], people like [MP] Luyolo Mphithi and Mimmy Gondwe.

Steenhuisen spoke to Daily Maverick on Thursday, just hours before the news of former DA MP Ghaleb Cachalia’s resignation from the party became public.

Cachalia’s resignation comes after a row over the party’s stance towards the Israeli bombardment of Gaza and its refusal to clearly call for a ceasefire. Last year in October, he posted on X saying that Israel’s actions in Gaza are “genocide” for which he was removed as a shadow minister. He was accused of contradicting the DA’s official policy.

In his resignation letter, Cachalia lamented that the party has become dysfunctional, undemocratic and autocratic.

“The party’s worrying move away from the centre of the political spectrum, in its embracing of right-wing tribal, religious and ultra-libertarian partners, the appointment of PR/lobbying/electoral firms with decidedly dubious pasts and the wooing of organisations like the Afrikanerbond to endorse the Multi-Party Charter, present serious cause for concern,” he wrote.

Read more in Daily Maverick: As global alarm bells ring, a new world order is being forged — and it is a risky place

Steenhuisen pointed out that all parties including the ANC, EFF and ActionSA were faced with the same fate.

DA moonshot, John Steenhuisen John Steenhuisen celebrates after being elected leader at the DA Federal Congress in Midrand on 2 April 2023. (Photo: Supplied)

“Look, it is a silly season now, much like the transfer season in football where you are going to see people jumping from party to party as parties start to confirm their list processes. It is a natural occurrence at this time where four months before elections people are looking for opportunities

“You have people leaving the EFF daily for the MK party, we have people leaving the ANC to join the MK party, Bongani Baloyi leaves ActionSA and forms his party, people joining Rise Mzansi, it is the season for these changes,” he said.

Former DA MPL Khume Ramulifho tendered his resignation on Tuesday just two days before Cachalia. Ramulifho has stated his intentions to join Rise Mzansi while it is still unclear which direction Cachalia’s political future will take.

The DA is on the brink of completing its lists for MPL and MP candidates after a process which includes screening, fit-for- purpose assessments and online assessments.

“I am very comfortable and having looked at the list of aspirant candidates across the country, we have some very talented people of all races and backgrounds. I am very excited by the conclusion of our list process in late February, because South Africans are going to see a list that is diverse, new candidates and new exciting faces that people are going to recognise,” he said.

DA expulsions

The DA also recently expelled four of its members namely, former MP Tsepo Mhlongo, former party Eastern Cape Leader leader Nqaba Bhanga, Former Northern Cape MPL Grantham Steenkamp as well as Soweto activist Kabelo Thobejane after they were found guilty of misconduct.

Mhlongo, Bhanga and Steenkamp all lamented the lack of fairness within the party and said their removal was unfair.

Mhlongo was charged with defrauding the DA electoral system, Bhanga was booted out for calling the DA federal council chair, Helen Zille, a “racist” while Steenkamp was charged for bringing the party into disrepute when he highlighted tensions among DA members.

Steenhusien said that this decision was taken by the party disciplinary body which is independent and impartial.

“In regards to the expulsions, I do not manage the Federal Legal Commission, we have an independent body which deals with disciplinary matters in the party without fear or favour.

“Where people break the constitution of the party, break the rules or act in a way that is contrary to the party, we deal with it and every one of the disciplinary processes were fair, transparent and open and were quite serious transgressions by those who were involved,” he said.

Former members criticise the FLC

The party’s disciplinary body has been heavily criticised, especially by those who faced its wrath in the past. Last year, the former Speaker of the Western Cape provincial legislature Masizole Mnqasela accused the body of flouting processes.

This was after he was charged with misconduct, without a hearing, over the results of an internal party investigation into allegations of irregularities pertaining to subsistence and travel and entertainment allowance claims.

Former DA MP Phumzile van Damme once spoke about how the body had been weaponised by certain people in the party.

She took to social media to say: “The problem is not FLC. The problem is that the FLC process is often used to settle political scores. For FLC to be truly independent, the federal executive role must be removed, in my opinion. Interested in hearing how other candidates feel about this.”

Her tweet was in response to former KwaZulu-Natal MPL Mbali Ntuli’s piece in Daily Maverick, “Insiders and outsiders: The politicisation of the DA’s disciplinary processes”.

At the time, Ntuli was running to be party federal leader, contesting against John Steenhuisen. She put forward one of the most immediate changes she would make if elected to lead the party — bringing an end to the politicisation of the DA’s FLC.

Ntuli’s opinion piece paints the FLC as being unfair when dealing with disciplinary matters.

“I have no doubt that many of our colleagues on the FLC do a thankless job to the best of their ability. However, no ‘firewall’ exists between FLC and political structures, as claimed by the current leadership. Once investigations are concluded, they must be tabled before PECs [provincial executive committees] or the FedEx [Federal Executive], and herein lies our problem. The FLC will often find no further need to continue with an investigation, only to be circumvented by politicians with vested interests in these bodies,” the article reads.

Ntuli faced the FLC in 2017. She was charged for allegedly liking a comment by Pearl Pillay, who was arguing with another person on Facebook. The post in question is said to have been about Helen Zille being a racist.

The former MPL argued that the charges against her were bogus and that is why the party could not officially boot her out.

coalitions da elections,John Steenhuisen John Steenhuisen addresses delegates at the Democratic Alliance Federal Conference held at Gallagher Convention centre in Midrand on 1 April 2023. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)

Analysts weigh in

Political analyst, deputy VC: Institutional Support at the University of Zululand, Sipho Seepe explained that it is not unusual for disgruntled politicians to portray a negative view of their party.

“We must first underline the fact that members who resign will always say horrible things about the party and so the fact that the DA is being accused of being undemocratic is something to expect when people leave the party.

“Most of the people like Cachalia joined the DA with the knowledge that the party has not largely treated people of colour well but for some reason they always thought they were the exception. They cannot now stand up and make condemnations as if the experience of black people in the DA was unknown,” he said.

He added that Steenhuisen should be showing more concern and that it is unfortunate that he is brushing off the matter as this mass exodus could translate to stagnation in the upcoming elections.

“The DA has taken a posture that says we have experimented with a few black people and those experiments have not worked and that is why Maimane was saying that he objects to being defined as an experiment.

“The optics do not do well for the DA especially when you are trying to get non-traditional voters of the DA. If you want to attract people of colour but you find that Africans leave the place, then it is not good for the party,” Seepe reiterated.

Analyst Sanusha Naidu, who is senior research fellow at the Institute for Global Dialogue, noted that the DA not only faces the challenge of convincing the ANC voter base that it is the best alternative but also maintaining its relationship with its traditional constituency.

“When you go to the 2019 election, you actually see that the DA needs to not only worry about whether it is nipping at the heels and breaking into the ANC’s election base, it is also about reclaiming its own election base Particularly amongst those undecided apathetic voters who are looking for a viable alternative and may not necessarily see the DA as a viable option. That is the problem with opposition politics in SA, their main point of their electoral existence at times is how much they use the electoral space to push back the ANC,” she said.

Although it was early days, Ipsos polling released in October last year indicated that the DA would not grow support from the previous elections, with 20% support polled among registered voters. (The DA obtained 20.7% in the 2019 elections).

See polling results here. DM

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South Africa

DA expulsions

Former members criticise the FLC

Analysts weigh in