Mmusi Maimane will resign as DA leader

[surface]

However, the ANC has brought back apartheid.
Seems to be fine for other governments so far, only very minor complaints.

You seem to be happy in China though. Is it because you are black muslim?

 

[Mrcricket]

The clips I've seen, he is able to go toe to toe with CR, ie CR was unable to make him look like a fool the way he does to the EFF and MM. They seem evenly matched

We will see about how that turns out. He was made to look like a fool during the Degree thing because it was the DA who were originally trying to push for that.

(I may be wrong but judging from his reactions to certain situations, he also looks like he may be vulnerable to an outburst or two and the EFF will surely look to troll him in parliament to see if this is the case). If he gives in, it will make him and the DA look bad.

I'm also doubtful that he lacks the same level of experience to be able to handle CR. Remember that he's only been in the spotlight for about three years now.

Maimane's lack of experience only really started to show during the last year. Before that, he looked solid so much so that people from within the DA were calling him Obama.

 

[winner]

Maybe they should just give the position of president to the most capable candidate regardless of race, what do you think?

Yet you can’t think of any black DA MP worthy. That right there is the problem. Who is president worthy according to you anyway?

 

[BBSA]

Yet you can’t think of any black DA MP worthy. That right there is the problem. Who is president worthy according to you anyway?

I have no idea, let's see who they select.

I still do not understand why you think the race of the next DA president is important.

 

[BBSA]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1187421228610576386

 

[surface]

Has Solly left yet?

 

[Jabulani22]

I got a R10 bet that he goes to the EFF . who wants to do a pool ?

 

[Fulcrum29]

Steven Friedman, the public intellectual,

Steven Friedman: 'Imposter syndrome' explains why first black DA leader quit

Whether or not Maimane was good at leading the DA, his resignation is important because it highlights one of the core problems of democratic South Africa - the assumption that the only way to do anything is the way white men did it in the past.

www.news24.com

Steven Friedman: 'Imposter syndrome' explains why first black DA leader quit

Whether or not Maimane was good at leading the DA, his resignation is important because it highlights one of the core problems of democratic South Africa - the assumption that the only way to do anything is the way white men did it in the past, writes Steven Friedman.

The politicians who run South Africa’s official opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA), have probably never heard of “imposter syndrome”. If they had, they might have a better grasp of the problems which confront their party – and its first black leader might not have been forced to resign.

“Imposter syndrome” is a state of mind in which a successful and competent person doubts their achievements and harbours a persistent fear that they should not be enjoying success and will soon be exposed as a “fraud”. It was identified by two American psychologists in a 1978 article, which found that the problem was widespread among high-achieving women, far more so than among men.

Since then, others have connected the dots to explain why people should feel this way. The syndrome, they suggest, is a product of prejudices that insist that some groups should monopolise important tasks and the skills and responsibilities which go with them. The women with “imposter syndrome” were doing well at jobs that, according to the prejudices among those who controlled their society, only men could do. They were, therefore, sure that men were judging them. And so, in a sense, they began to judge themselves despite the fact that they were clearly good at what they did.

This does not apply only to women who are doing jobs usually monopolised by men. It could equally apply to black people occupying positions that were held only by whites and whose “imposter syndrom” reacts to the prejudice which insists that only whites belong in the role.

This will probably shape how people operate in their “imposter” roles. They could be reluctant to express views or take decisions that might offend others in the organisation because they are convinced that the people who used to monopolise the role will dismiss them as a fraud.

It is also possible that, in a way, the people who suffer from the syndrome really are imposters. People who are drawn from a group that did not occupy the post in the past may have ways of doing things that are unlike those of the traditional office holders: women may do some things differently from men, black people may do things differently from whites. They are then likely to be labelled as frauds by others despite the fact that what they are doing may be as effective as – or more effective than – the “traditional” way of doing things.

All of this is directly relevant to this week’s resignation of Mmusi Maimane, who in 2015 became the first black leader of the traditionally white DA.

Depends on who is doing the judging

Maimane was forced out of the party leadership because a DA committee consisting of three white men held him (and some of its white leaders) responsible for the fact that the DA is losing ground in elections. Whether their judgement was fair is hotly debated. But key for “imposter syndrome” is the judgement the panel passed on Maimane. He was, they said, “indecisive” and “conflict averse”.

Given what we know about “imposter syndrome”, it is not hard to see why a committee composed entirely of members of the group that has run the party since it began should judge him this way. If Maimane was indecisive, it may be because he feared deep down that, if he did decide, he would be called out as a fraud by the people who ran the party – this happened anyway, despite his supposed indecision. It is even easier to see why someone conscious of being judged by people constantly testing whether he is “one of us” would want to avoid conflict.

It is also possible that Maimane was an “imposter” in the second sense – that what appeared indecisive and “conflict averse” was actually a different, and perhaps more effective, way of doing things.

The committee’s complaint that he was averse to conflicts may well say more about them than about him. Why is enjoying conflict a virtue? Should we not rather value people who avoid conflict? People with a different value system could see a “conflict averse” person as a “peace lover” or a “conciliator”. And “indecisiveness” could mean a refusal to take decisions the review committee and the rest of the party establishment want him to take, not a failure to decide.

The committee’s verdict on Maimane may be less an indictment of him than a judgement on it and the traditional DA leadership it represents. It suggests not an iota of sensitivity to the possibility that a black person elected to lead a traditionally white organisation may find it difficult to be decisive if she or he is subject to constant doubts about whether they really fit the role. Nor is it alive to the possibility that Maimane may have been doing things differently but better and that the organisation’s white leadership may have found that difficult.

All this has implications way beyond the DA.

Widespread problem

“Imposter syndrome” is quite likely widespread in South Africa among women and black men who hold senior positions in organisations that were led by men or white people.

The reason would be much the same as it is in the DA – most white-led or male-led organisations tend to think that they can absorb people who were excluded and promote them to leadership positions without changing the organisation. The way in which whites or men ran it in the past is assumed to be the only possible way it could run, and changing it would mean “lowering standards”. So, the black men or the women who occupy these posts become “imposters” if they want to do things differently, even if that would strengthen the organisation.

At the same time, the prejudices of groups who dominate can be very strong – so strong that the targets of the biases start to wonder deep down whether they are really unfit for the task. In South Africa, white men running large organisations and taking on complicated technical tasks has been the norm for decades and so people come to assume that only they could do these jobs. It is no surprise that black people and women who are perfectly capable of doing them wonder deep down whether they are really up to the task.

So, whether or not Maimane was good at leading the opposition, his resignation is important because it highlights one of the core problems of democratic South Africa - the assumption that the only way to do anything is the way white men did it in the past, and the damaging attitudes that produces on both sides of the divide.

- Steven Friedman is professor of Political Studies at the University of Johannesburg.

I am not sure what to think about the conclusion.

 

[BBSA]

I got a R10 bet that he goes to the EFF . who wants to do a pool ?

You think the racists at the EFF will accept him, considering he sleeps with whiteness?

 

[Jabulani22]

You think the racists at the EFF will accept him, considering he sleeps with whiteness?

Im just betting on the group with the highest odds , payback will be millions off 10 bucks , politicians dont care about politics , only money it seems.

 

[Jabulani22]

Steven Friedman, the public intellectual,

Steven Friedman: 'Imposter syndrome' explains why first black DA leader quit

Whether or not Maimane was good at leading the DA, his resignation is important because it highlights one of the core problems of democratic South Africa - the assumption that the only way to do anything is the way white men did it in the past.

www.news24.com

I am not sure what to think about the conclusion.

You dont trust Friedman ? He is highly educated and a professor , what would you rather his surname be Zuckerberg before accepting his analysis ?

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

You think the racists at the EFF will accept him, considering he sleeps with whiteness?

Why not? Julius sleeps with that tobacco guy...

 

[Sneeky]

Heard on the radio today that Maimane himself set up the so called panel/review that led to his exit?

Selected the people as well?

 

[Alan]

Steven Friedman, the public intellectual,

Steven Friedman: 'Imposter syndrome' explains why first black DA leader quit

Whether or not Maimane was good at leading the DA, his resignation is important because it highlights one of the core problems of democratic South Africa - the assumption that the only way to do anything is the way white men did it in the past.

www.news24.com

I am not sure what to think about the conclusion.

As always everything is race and gender. Couldn't possibly be that one individual was found to be incompetent by another bunch of individuals.

 

[Fulcrum29]

You dont trust Friedman ? He is highly educated and a professor , what would you rather his surname be Zuckerberg before accepting his analysis ?

Just because he is educated and have a position at UJ doesn’t mean that I must trust in his ideology. Why Zuckerberg? Why must I accept his analysis? It is like asking, in the DA context, to accept identity politics, and by this, he generalised it as a widespread problem in SA.

There is something called changed management which is a process in a cycle. I have worked with many and various entities, and in most cases, there are women and ‘rainbow’ races proactively involved in the process. We do have many conservative type executive boards, but even they onboard and embrace change management. From experience, It doesn’t seem widespread to me unless it is an emotional issue which others are experiencing.

What about black-owned or black only organisations?

This being said,

At the same time, the prejudices of groups who dominate can be very strong – so strong that the targets of the biases start to wonder deep down whether they are really unfit for the task.

applies across the entire spectrum in SA, maybe that is the true widespread problem at hand here.

 

[Jabulani22]

Just because he is educated and have a position at UJ doesn’t mean that I must trust in his ideology. Why Zuckerberg? Why must I accept his analysis? It is like asking, in the DA context, to accept identity politics, and by this, he generalised it as a widespread problem in SA.

There is something called changed management which is a process in a cycle. I have worked with many and various entities, and in most cases, there are women and ‘rainbow’ races proactively involved in the process. We do have many conservative type executive boards, but even they onboard and embrace change management. From experience, It doesn’t seem widespread to me unless it is an emotional issue which others are experiencing.

What about black-owned or black only organisations?

This being said,



applies across the entire spectrum in SA, maybe that is the true widespread problem at hand here.

It was a joke in the dark there , but the only point that needs to be raised when people talk about Orania is this , the constitution allows for self determination , these people are doing that which is enshrined in the constitution .

 

[ForceFate]

You think the racists at the EFF will accept him, considering he sleeps with whiteness?

Sizwe (Mpofu's son) wasn't conceived through the holy spirit.

 

[BBSA]

Sizwe (Mpofu's son) wasn't conceived through the holy spirit.

Dali Mpofu is facing increasing internal pressure over his role in the EFF

 

[Fulcrum29]

It was a joke in the dark there , but the only point that needs to be raised when people talk about Orania is this , the constitution allows for self determination , these people are doing that which is enshrined in the constitution .

I still believe in inclusiveness. I know Orania is working with other communities, but your porch needs to be open.

 

[Fulcrum29]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1187411609393729537

The opposition is 'radically' racialising this as quickly as possible.

As a liberal social democrat, he knows that colonial racism requires a much more radical political platform.