Imagine being handed the ANC, one of the world’s most inept and criminal political parties, and the EFF, who just can’t help but steal from the poor, as your main opposition parties.

Sure, the latter’s supporters have abandoned reason and fact, and the former’s supporters just can’t bear to part ways with the party that liberated them from apartheid, but you’re given opportunities to berate your biggest foes on the daily.

Sadly, in a country crying out for a viable opposition party, the DA is in the midst of spiralling out of control, and the biggest head of all could be about to roll.

Herman Mashaba has already resigned as Mayor of Johannesburg (fun fact – he is the founder of hair product company Black Like Me), and now Mmusi Maimane looks to be next on the chopping block.

News24 with the latest:

Panic has set in among allies of embattled DA leader Mmusi Maimane over his future as chief of the party…

Speculation has been building that Maimane might step down as DA leader following a bruising weekend when his predecessor, Helen Zille, was elected as the new federal council chairperson…

Several provincial and national leaders aligned to Maimane told News24 he was almost out of the door, with many believing it was now only a matter of when he would exit.

Nhlanhla Phillips/ANA

“He is rattled; I can tell you that for sure, but we told him he has to stay the course,” said one senior provincial DA leader…

“The clock is close to midnight for Mmusi. If I was a betting man, I wouldn’t give him more than two weeks,” said a national leader who also sits on the federal executive. The leader told News24 he had lost confidence in Maimane’s leadership skills…

“It’s going to be rough. Mmusi is completely going to be roasted. He has to be taken to task about his ‘hero’ comments,” he added.

Those ‘hero comments’ refer to Maimane’s praise for Mashaba, who had basically labelled the DA a racist party in a scathing resignation statement.

There are more voices inside the DA structures talking about a somewhat broken Maimane:

“He honestly has been deflated for a while now. He gave up a long time ago, even before the federal council, you could see he was tired, but I don’t see him leaving at least until policy conference,” claimed a second national leader.

A prominent leader, who does not sit on the executive, said he had heard rumours that a possible resignation from Maimane was imminent.

“Of course I have heard rumours that he is going to resign. I don’t know if he will do it. I can’t say,” the leader said.

Some have gone as far as to suggest that Maimane could soon form his own party, taking existing members of the DA who support him along for the ride, but those remain unsubstantiated whispers.

What does seem certain, though, is that if Maimane goes, the party could see a mass exodus in the period that follows.

The Daily Maverick predicts an equally gloomy future for Maimane and the DA, saying “a situation has been created that is impossible for Maimane to manage, or even to survive as the leader of the country’s leading opposition party”.

Not that there is a clear succession plan in place:

The real dilemma facing the DA is that it is difficult to see who could replace Maimane as leader and take the party forward. The party sometimes mirrors the problems facing the country. Everyone wants to move forward in a united fashion. But the arguments start as soon as any group has to make real concessions.

This leads to perhaps Maimane’s strongest argument: that an attempt to remove him may lead to a damaging leadership contest in the DA – a contest that the party may not survive in its current form…

It is clear that the current situation in the DA cannot continue. The continuing divisions between Maimane and Zille will only damage the party, and a solution must be found. There will be many who think a short, sharp leadership contest is that solution, but that could easily backfire by turning into a blazing nationwide fight that would damage the party beyond recognition. Any party, particularly South Africa’s biggest opposition party, can hardly afford such funeral pyre.

It’s really quite sad that after a sustained period of growth, and a message of unity, the party is now tearing itself apart from the inside, one internal factional battle at a time.

To finish, here’s Zapiro’s latest cartoon for the Daily Maverick:

[sources:news24&dailymaverick]