How Zille Was Pushed

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How Zille was pushed
Carien du Plessis @City_Press

DA leader Helen Zille’s final decision to step down from the party leadership was a sudden and tearful one, and her hand was forced.

It also showed a week is a long time in politics. She announced her decision last Sunday in Johannesburg, but six days before, on Tuesday, she had confirmed, to various party leaders, her candidacy for leadership at the party’s federal congress on May 9 and 10 in Port Elizabeth.

By Wednesday of that week her decision changed. She initiated a meeting of several hours with close advisers and confidantes, DA members of Parliament (MPs) Gavin Davis and Geordin Hill-Lewis, on her candidacy. Davis went into the meeting believing it would be in the party’s best interest for her to step down. Hill-Lewis was conflicted.

During the meeting they had an in-depth discussion about Zille’s leadership – following three months of informal discussions.

There they made a list of the pros and cons of Zille staying on as party leader – she referred to this list when she made her announcement on Sunday.

Some of the major considerations were that the party’s research showed that it was on the verge of a growth spurt, and that a new, energetic leader could make this happen faster.

The party relies heavily on regular public polls to plan its campaigns, and it is hoping to win – or get close to winning – a number of new metros in next year’s local government elections.

Another consideration was the fact that DA Eastern Cape leader Athol Trollip would be running as the party’s federal chair at next month’s elections against one of the party’s current deputy federal chairpersons and MP, Makashule Gana, and Western Cape member of the provincial legislature (MPL) Masizole Mnqasela.

A former parliamentary leader and long-time politician, the older Trollip stands a good chance of winning, and there is consensus within the party that two white faces at the top would stunt the party’s plans to win more black voters.

Trollip, who is also running as the Nelson Mandela Bay mayoral candidate next year, could not be persuaded to withdraw. Some within the party believe that a small group, including Trollip and DA chief whip John Steenhuisen who will be managing DA parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane’s campaign for party leader, was responsible for pushing Zille out.

There is also resentment that processes were manipulated to favour Maimane, who was the public face of the party’s R130 million Gauteng election campaign last year.

Zille left Wednesday’s meeting without a clear decision, but already leaning towards stepping down.

She arrived at a two-hour party management committee meeting in DA federal council chairperson and MP James Selfe’s office in Parliament that night looking tired. Her stepping down wasn’t discussed at the meeting, which focused on party matters and the Rhodes monument debacle.

The next day, she summoned Selfe, Hill-Lewis, Steenhuisen, DA chief executive Paul Boughey and two party donors whose names have not been revealed, to her Leeuwenhof residence for consultation.

Even at the end of this meeting, it was not fully clear that she would go, although there was enough certainty for party organisers to start summoning members of the party’s federal executive council to a meeting at very short notice on Sunday.

The meeting started at 10am and was set to last no longer than an hour and a half, the time it should have taken Zille to announce her decision and say her farewells to the leaders.

But an intense discussion of nearly three hours ensued, because about 75% of the 24-strong council was not in favour of Zille stepping down. She uncharacteristically shed a few tears – which meant she had to go and refresh herself before the press conference – and repeatedly told the meeting she did not want to go because she wanted to see through her project of realigning South African politics, which she started in 2007.

In the meeting she asked whether the leaders had considered what would happen if the party revealed a major repositioning plan with a majority white leadership corps. Some in the party said this indicated she was pushed by Trollip’s group.

This week, on Thursday, she made her farewell speech to the party’s caucus, and again shed tears, as did some MPs, when she spoke of her personal growth in the DA, race and the future of the party. MPs cheered her several times.
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http://www.citypress.co.za/politics/how-zille-was-pushed/

:whistle:
 
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That article doesn't provide ANY evidence that she was pushed, it's nothing more than speculation. City Press should be ashamed of publishing something so short on facts.
 
Some of the major considerations were that the party’s research showed that it was on the verge of a growth spurt, and that a new, energetic leader could make this happen faster.
Click to expand...

So did it for the party...?? -if she wanted to cling on, she could have ...and no mention made of a faction having enough support to force the issue...
 
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The_Assimilator said:
That article doesn't provide ANY evidence that she was pushed, it's nothing more than speculation. City Press should be ashamed of publishing something so short on facts.
Click to expand...

They're trying to smoke and bait a story. Matters not. The dice is cast. Time to focus on the next chapter.
 
The_Assimilator said:
That article doesn't provide ANY evidence that she was pushed, it's nothing more than speculation. City Press should be ashamed of publishing something so short on facts.
Click to expand...

Nothing will deter PropaGanda to spread false propaganda!
 
But an intense discussion of nearly three hours ensued, because about 75% of the 24-strong council was not in favour of Zille stepping down.
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So the majority of the council wanted her to stay and she decided to step down? I don't know what the point of this story is then.
 
Whether she was pushed or not is irrelevant. Her race doesn't sit well with the majority of SA's demographics, and for the DA to make any real progress, votes-wise, needed this. It was the right decision at the right time, regardless of how it was obtained, as long as it was legal.
 
UserZ said:
So the majority of the council wanted her to stay and she decided to step down? I don't know what the point of this story is then.
Click to expand...

Only PropaGanda can tell us as he knows everything or so he makes out to be.
 
Whatever the truth is, I'm glad she is stepping down she did well for the DA but I'd much prefer a younger more "energetic" leader. She unfortunately does come across as a rich white madam.
 
"she had confirmed, to various party leaders, her candidacy for leadership"

That can be proven.

I was right all along. The truth will always out.
 
It was a matter of time.

The problem SA faces is not just the ANC it is the lack of credible opposition.

It is naive and silly to blame the black voters or think that they are stupid for not voting DA. They don't need to change; the DA does by giving them a credible alternative.

Majority of the blacks in the country have serious scars—physical and emotional—about apartheid and this needs to be addressed by the DA. Denying grants or affirmative action is akin to denying that a crime against humanity was committed. A credible black leader is what the DA really needs.

Zille was and is not the person to do it. She has no IQ or EQ; getting into squabbles in Twitter demonstrated this and so was renting-a-black two months before an election was just plain dumb. Calling South Africans 'refugees' in Cape was yet further evidence of her stupidity.

She may claim to have increased DA support but it is still race based. It reflected the disenchantment with the ANC and an anyone but ANC vote.

She lost against the ANC twice!

She lost against Zuma! Read that again and again.

She lost against a party that is daily doing things that are corrupt and making SA poorer.

That she was pushed was no surprise. The DA took too long to get its act together. If it yet again votes for a white leader it is tone deaf to the SA's gory past.
 
Stochos said:
She lost against the ANC twice!

She lost against Zuma! Read that again and again.

She lost against a party that is daily doing things that are corrupt and making SA poorer.
Click to expand...
She grew the party significantly in every election she has being a leader of the DA. An impressive feat considering the context. She instilled a strong work ethic and integrity in the party. I was very proud to call her leader. Very few other people could have done as good a job as her during her years as leader.
 
If it's true she announced her intention to continue as party leader just 6 days before she dropped out then yes, it's likely she was 'pushed'
 
Stochos said:
It was a matter of time.

The problem SA faces is not just the ANC it is the lack of credible opposition.

It is naive and silly to blame the black voters or think that they are stupid for not voting DA. They don't need to change; the DA does by giving them a credible alternative.

Majority of the blacks in the country have serious scars—physical and emotional—about apartheid and this needs to be addressed by the DA. Denying grants or affirmative action is akin to denying that a crime against humanity was committed. A credible black leader is what the DA really needs.

Zille was and is not the person to do it. She has no IQ or EQ; getting into squabbles in Twitter demonstrated this and so was renting-a-black two months before an election was just plain dumb. Calling South Africans 'refugees' in Cape was yet further evidence of her stupidity.

She may claim to have increased DA support but it is still race based. It reflected the disenchantment with the ANC and an anyone but ANC vote.

She lost against the ANC twice!

She lost against Zuma! Read that again and again.

She lost against a party that is daily doing things that are corrupt and making SA poorer.

That she was pushed was no surprise. The DA took too long to get its act together. If it yet again votes for a white leader it is tone deaf to the SA's gory past.
Click to expand...

She lost against a party whose supporters will continue to vote for it regardless of how bad their lot may be, because they're more afraid of the "wit gevaar" than corrupt incompetents like Zuma.
 
ghoti said:
You are one of the most deceitful people here, you are not anyones champion of truth skeptik.
Click to expand...
I presume you refer to me?

Just to warn you with all these personal comments - - Your leaders in the DA E. Cape are watching all your posts and will be assessing their impact on your future within the party.
 
The next day, she summoned Selfe, Hill-Lewis, Steenhuisen, DA chief executive Paul Boughey and two party donors whose names have not been revealed, to her Leeuwenhof residence for consultation.
Click to expand...

Pity the political parties are in agreement that identities of people who clearly play such an important part in decision making are withheld. Politics and the wealthy are inseparable it seems
 
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