Zille dismisses claims of a rift between her and Steenhuisen

Democratic Alliance federal chairHelen Zillehas dismissed claims that there is a rift between her and party leaderJohn Steenhuisen. At a briefing in Durban last week, when Steenhuisen announced he would not be standing again for the position, Zille and those perceived as her allies in the party were absent. This fuelled speculation that the Zille faction had pushed Steenhuisen to stand down from re-election amid criticism of his handling, as agriculture minister, of South Africa’s foot-and-mouth disease crisis.

Responding to questions during a media briefing on Wednesday, Zille said her reason for not attending last week’s event was that it was called at short notice. She said she was running an intensive campaign in Johannesburg for city mayor. “I can’t change an entire programme unless you have a death in the family,” she said.

Zille also dismissed suggestions that she and Steenhuisen were not on speaking terms. “I must have sent him about four WhatsApp messages yesterday,” she said. At the heart of the rift in the DA is the debate over whether the party should remain in President Cyril Ramaphosa’sgovernment of national unity(GNU).

[paywall]

Some members are calling for it to reconsider its role in the grand coalition. Zille is believed to be among them. “I led the DA’s negotiating team to get us into the GNU.

I don’t believe the DA is there just to make up the ANC’s numbers and to become a doormat,” Zille said on Wednesday. “We promised our voters certain things and in the GNU. We need to stand firm on those things and we need to be very muscular in government.

“I am not saying we are going to be in the GNU forever. The big question that arises is whether it is best to be in or out of the GNU and what the consequences of either choice would be.” She said the DA had joined the national governing coalition because it believed it would benefit the country. If Ramaphosa’s ANC behaved as if it were governing alone and did not take its coalition partners seriously, they would need to ensure they were taken seriously, Zille said.

[/paywall]