Gauteng DA admits Mashaba’s resignation negatively affected party
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng on Wednesday conceded the party took what it said was a difficult turn when former Joburg Mayor Herman Mashaba resigned.
The party recently lost power to the African National Congress (ANC) in Johannesburg, paving the way for the election of Geoff Makhubo.
Mashaba resigned in October last year accusing the DA of veering off from the vision outlined by then-leader Mmusi Maimane. At a media briefing, the party’s leadership reflected on this, among other issues.
After months of personal jabs that left the DA vulnerable and its supporters disillusioned, the party’s leaders appeared to be waving the white flag.
Caucus leader in Joburg Funzela Ngobeni said: “Like any journey or story, ours is one which has experienced many highs and lows. Certainly, we acknowledge that in some cases we’ll have made mistakes while we were in government.”
Ngobeni said the DA had undergone tremendous internal upheaval.
“However, this presented an important lesson for us to learn from. And these lessons have only strengthened our resolve to continue to fight for our people,” he said.
While the DA insisted the current Joburg speaker Nonceba Molwele was elected illegitimately, the party said it would still attend council sittings.
In all likelihood, the remaining DA chairs would be challenged through motions of no confidence.
