[imagesource: Alaister Russell]

Mmusi Maimane’s reign is over, and despite what those at the top are saying, the general consensus is that the party is in state of turmoil.

Helen Zille’s return has seen much criticism levelled at the DA, and the decision as to who will be the party’s next leader may well be a make or break moment.

Technically, these three men are contesting the position of interim party leader at the special federal council meeting next weekend, and the party may only appoint a permanent leader at its next federal congress, provisionally set for April next year.

Other names could throw their names into the hat, but being named interim party leader will be a massive boost to one’s chances.

You will no doubt recognise John Steenhuisen, the DA’s former chief whip and perennial Parliament chirper, and the other two men in the running are Bonginkosi Madikizela and Makashule Gana.

It’s worth backing either of those latter two, if only to hear the Southern Suburbs try and pronounce their names.

Via the Mail & Guardian, we start with Steenhuisen:

Steenhuisen, acting leader of the opposition in the National Assembly and former chief whip, was quick out of the blocks, indicating shortly after Maimane resigned that he was up for the job…

He’s been using his position to campaign among the 150 delegates of the DA’s federal council. This week Steenhuisen was campaigning for the party at a by-election in the Eastern Cape.

Party insiders say it was a litmus test for how voters would respond to him if he became leader of the DA.

Steenhuisen appears to have the support of party delegates who find their interests in Kwazulu-Natal, where he cut his political teeth.

Let’s cut to the chase and say that counting against Steenhuisen is the fact that he’s white, and if the party wants to try and appeal to a wider base of voters, replacing Maimane with Steenhuisen could be a misstep.

That brings us to a man with a familiar and powerful political last name, Madikizela:

Madikizela, the provincial MEC for transport and public works, is popular in the upper echelons of the party and is seen as being close to Zille.

Zille is said to have been instrumental in recruiting Madikizela, a former United Democratic Movement member, to the DA, a political history he’s not shy about.

Like Zille, Madikizela [below] is eschewing economic redress policy based on race, calling himself a true non-racist…

Madikizela is related to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. The optics of proximity to the struggle stalwart could bode well for him.

He was also seen as a peace broker during the internal strife that has affected the DA.

The third man in the mix, Makashule Gana, offers a very different approach going forward.

He is said to be popular amongst the party’s younger black members, many of whom remain sympathetic to Maimane, and makes no bones about the challenges that now face the DA:

He represents a bloc who believe the party should be growing, instead of simply focusing on its core support base.

This would mean opening up issues of economic redress and social justice…

Gana [below] is part of the group still smarting from the return of Zille, who was elected as federal council chairperson last month. She stepped down from office in May after serving two terms as premier of the Western Cape. Many in the party felt Zille should have stuck with her political retirement…

“We need to talk about the damage that has been done to the DA brand at this stage, and it is up to us to rebuild that.

“We can’t go back to using the same ideas that used to work for us in the past. The election results tell us people are looking for a different kind of DA,” he said.

“They’re not looking for the old DA. They’re looking for a DA that will respond to the challenges that South Africans face.”

Given that both Steenhuisen and Madikizela have far bigger national profiles, and already have vocal supporters in the federal council, Gana could be fighting a losing battle.

Whilst the elected leader needs to embody the party’s policies, it might be worth the DA locking in exactly what those policies are before making this vitally important decision.

A failure on this front could well see the party lose further ground in the wake of what has been a woeful 2019 thus far.

[source:mg]