According to political analyst, Professor Sipho Seepe, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has a history of trying to “parachute promising young people into positions of prominence, mainly to address the sense that people have, that when you think about the DA you think about a white party.”
He was speaking in response to former Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse’s plans to challenge John Steenhuisen for the position of federal leader in the party. She will have two months to garner delegates’ support in the April federal congress.
Seepe alluded to reports that Phalatse was approached to contest for the position as an indication of the DA’s supposed attempts to address its ‘white’ image.
Solomon Maila, Phalatse’s campaign manager and the DA’s Jo’burg caucus manager, said he believed there was discontent towards prospects of Steenhuisen’s reelection. He said the party stood a better chance at the 2024 national elections if Phalatse was the face of its campaign.
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Phalatse’s challenges in the race for DA leader
Professor Seepe anticipated Phalatse would face significant challenges in the leadership race. For one, he said, she did not have the support of influential blocs that would likely throw their weight behind Steenhuisen.
However, according to Seepe, Phalatse’s constituency would likely come from those who were agitated by the DA’s track record of dealing with issues of colonialism.
“Some of the pronouncements that have been made by people like Helen Zille around issues of colonialism are issues that have ruptured the constituency that Mpho Phalatse wants to represent,” he said.
Seepe further highlighted past experiences of independent black thinkers in the DA such as Patricia De Lille, Lindiwe Mazibuko, and Mmusi Maimane. He said their experiences showed an “independent black thinker in the DA is easily shown the door.”
He said Phalatse would have to “measure that against the reality that the DA has actually failed to change”.
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Approach to win
For Phalatse to be successful, said Professor Seepe, she will have to convince delegates on how she plans to tackle the “wall of no-go areas.” Phalatse would have to demonstrate how she was different and how she planned to break away from the past experiences of “independent black thinkers” in the DA.
“Until you deal with those issues, and until you deal with the fact that the benefactors of the DA are largely white and the DA has always made sure that it secures that white base and then tries to invite the few black people, I don’t see her chances of winning to be very strong,” he said.
Even if she succeeded, Seepe said there was nothing that could guarantee she would be appreciated as federal leader. She would have to walk on eggshells when it came to contentious issues of race and the apartheid legacy.
“What we have seen is that an independent black thinker in the DA is easily shown the door.” Mmusi Maimane was speaking about what it means to be black and their opportunities. “He was beginning to talk the language of people like Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma when they talk about the state of the nation in this country as reflected by conditions of privilege and the conditions of disadvantage,” he said.
Julie Allie and Professor Sipho Seepe also spoke about the opportunities for former black members of the DA to group together in a new formation. Listen to the full discussion here:
