Nothing can save DA’s Mmusi Maimane after latest scandals, say analysts

Two of the country’s prominent political analysts believe that nothing can save Mmusi Maimane, who has been significantly weakened by a series of scandals in the past few weeks, from the axe.

The analysts believe that even pre-empting his opponents who are believed to be hitting him with calculated leaks, by coming out clean on potential future scandals, cannot save him. This comes as some provincial leaders of the DA who are considered to be part of the so-called ‘black caucus’ are closing ranks around Maimane whose job has already been given to Alan Winde, the Premier of the Western Cape by the Institute of Race Relations. Helen Zille recently joined the think tank.

Seasoned political analyst, Xolani Dube from the Durban-based Xubera Institute, said the way the party’s national leader is tainted, it appears as if he has become the “Jacob Zuma of the DA”. He said scandals of leaders are carefully archived and only leaked when they are being pushed out of office.
Dube stressed that the scandals are heavily stacked against him and surviving this would be a miracle.

“All the cards are against him here… The man is not going to survive… He is gone, the man is gone. Look, for these guys, there are a lot of skeletons in the closet, they are being archived and at the right time they are used to get rid of them” Dube told Independent Media on Wednesday.

Another Durban-based Independent political analyst, Thabani Khumalo, said Maimane can only be saved by resigning from his position as party leader. He said the major undoing for Maimane was that he presented himself as an anti-corruption crusader so much so, that people would find it hard to forgive him for alleged corrupt deeds.

“Whether he discloses potential future scandals or not in order to disarm his opponents and save his job, it will not work. The only thing he can do is to disclose them and resign. Since he is associated with ethical leadership, it will be hard for him. The only thing he can do is to apologise and leave,” Khumalo said.

Khumalo attributed the unraveling of Maimane’s term in office as DA leader to a all-or-nothing focus on increasing membership. He said the party ended up being a mass based party instead of focusing on minorities and urban and educated blacks.

In other news – Bathabile Dlamini must be held to account, says DA after PP report

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has said that former minister of social development, Bathabile Dlamini, still has a case to answer – despite being exonerated in a Public Protector report that says she did not wilfully mislead parliament.

“Despite the outcomes of this report, the DA still holds the view that Bathabile Dlamini must be held to account for putting the livelihoods of millions of South Africans at risk and plunging the country to the brink of a complete crisis,” said DA shadow minister of social development, Bridget Masango, on Wednesday. The DA referred the former minister to Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane after Dlamini said that Sassa would be ready to institutionalise the distribution of social grants by April 1 2017. Read more

Source: IOL

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