Charles Molele
Eastern Cape DA leader Athol Trollip has come out in support of the embattled party leader Mmusi Maimane, saying he would remain at the helm despite criticism that he failed to lead the party to victory during the 2019 general elections.
Speculation is rife that the DA’s top brass are planning to oust Maimane after the party lost significant elements of its traditional support base, most of whom are believed to have switched to the Vryheidfront Plus.
The DA lost its status as official opposition in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, leading to speculation that he might be shown the door before his term comes to an end. In 2014, it lost the official opposition status in the North West and Limpopo to the EFF.
The DA was expected to attain at least 30% of the national votes but it was standing at 21.31% by Friday afternoon, with more than 80% of the votes counted.
Already, Maimane has fallen out of favour with some senior party leaders after he introduced the diversity clause and urged members to confront white privilege in the party.
Trollip, a close ally of Maimane, said the DA leader was not going anywhere.
“Maimane will remain the leader of the DA after the elections. He will still be the leader of the DA even after our party congress. We have total confidence in his leadership,” Trollip said.
‘I’m not going anywhere’, says the embattled @Our_DA leader @MmusiMaimane who added that he was more than happy with his party’s performance. #SAElections2019 pic.twitter.com/09ZfOnxWEN
— Inside Politics (@InsidePolitics8) May 10, 2019
Addressing the media at the IEC’s results operation centre on Friday, Maimane said he was happy with the party’s performance in the general elections.
“I can celebrate. We’ve retained the Western Cape and we are contesting in Gauteng. In the same way I came here in 2016 to talk about the cities, I came here to talk about provinces today,” said Maimane.
“It was a tough contested election. This is a global trend we are seeing. I have been here for 18 months; even in this election we were the only party that communicated a particular message. That message was One South Africa for all while others were saying we are or black people.”
Maimane said he will support President Cyril Ramaphosa as long as he does not put the ANC’s interests above the country.
