[imagesource: REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo]

UPDATE: You can see Mmusi and Athol resign in the video at the bottom of the post…

We knew the end was nigh, but today we’ve reached the end of Mmusi Maimane’s reign as the leader of the DA.

Clearly, this is a party in the midst of a serious crisis, and Maimane will follow Herman Mashaba out the door when he officially announces his resignation in a press conference that is due to start at 3PM.

That press conference was initially slated to start at 1PM, but then was pushed back by two hours.

This from News24:

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane has decided to resign as federal leader of the DA, several well-placed sources in the party have confirmed to News24…

The DA’s federal executive held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss, among other things, the resignation of former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba and the future of the City of Johannesburg.

TimesLIVE also reports that Maimane is out:

TimesLIVE understands that Maimane has told some party leaders close to him that he intends to quit his job at a federal executive meeting in Johannesburg today…

A DA leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Maimane had indicated that he was quitting his job because of the election of former party leader Helen Zille as the party’s federal council chair at the weekend.

“He is quitting because of Helen’s election,” said the leader.

There you have it.

The Citizen reports that the delayed press conference is due to some last-gasp attempts to change his mind:

Speculation is rife that this delay was agreed to as part of a last-ditch effort to either change Maimane’s mind, or at least alter the terms of his departure…

It is believed that he will not be leaving the party alone, with other prominent DA leaders expected to follow him.

For the pun of the day, we turn to the Mail & Guardian, who have dubbed him ‘Mmusi Byemane’, as well as laying out what happens next:

Two senior party members, who are not participants in the FedEx meeting, said they had been informed that Maimane had resigned at the meeting following a meeting earlier in the morning with Zille…

Despite Maimane’s departure, there will be no vacuum in the party’s leadership.

According to one DA member privy to deliberations in today’s FedEx meeting, the party’s constitution says the DA’s Federal Chairperson deputises the leader.

That means Athol Trollip will become the official opposition’s acting leader.

He’ll be in the position for up to six weeks. Any longer than that would require the approval of the party’s federal executive committee.

Well, I wouldn’t be so sure about that:

eNCA is due to carry the press conference live. Whether or not it kicks off at 3PM remains to be seen, but it will herald the end of an era for South Africa’s largest opposition party.

UPDATE: The briefing is running late. As for when it will start…

Panic.

In fact, things are so bad that DA spokesperson Solly Malatsi has called this a crisis. Listen from the 15-second mark…

#FedEx DA spokesperson @SollyMalatsi says we must be patient and no Maimane can’t come out and just address us (@tshidi_lee) pic.twitter.com/4tZye6S6sy

— Team News24 (@TeamNews24) October 23, 2019

Here’s the briefing in its entirety…

[sources:news24&timeslive&citizen&mg]