DA divided on Mazibuko Primedia OnlinePrimedia Online – 3 hours ago Email Share 5 Tweet Print DA divided on MazibukoView Photo DA divided on Mazibuko Democratic Alliance (DA) parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko, who is frequently under attack from the African National Congress (ANC), is reportedly under fire from within her own party. According to The Sunday Independent, a number of senior Members of Parliament (MPs) are unhappy with her leadership style and believe that there is a good chance that she could be removed from the position after next year’s general elections. Mazibuko, who defeated DA veteran Athol Trollip to take on the role as parliamentary leader, has openly had the backing of DA leader Helen Zille, which has irked some of the senior members of the DA who believe that Zille should not interfere in leadership debates. Critics of Mazibuko, who were afraid of reprisal within the party, spoke to The Sunday Independent mostly on the condition of anonymity. One of them was quoted as saying: “She’s very young, she’s not very self- assured or very confident of herself, and so these are a bad mix of ingredients because everyone else becomes unsure and unstable. That is the principle in place. So everybody is unable to take leadership and everyone is holding back. There are people there who are politicians for the future – that is their primary occupation.” At least one of the critics claimed that Mazibuko had an “autocratic” leadership style, which the critic implied was a result of a lack of “experience and age”. Mazibuko seems to have upset many within the DA caucus with the reshuffle she executed at the beginning of 2012, in which she moved 60 of the caucus’s 66 members from their portfolios. While some MPs admit that they are happy in their new roles, others still regard the reshuffle as a “slap in the face”. The Sunday Independent quoted DA MP Lourie Bosman, who was moved from his position as spokesperson on agriculture, forestry and fisheries to the position of deputy higher education spokesperson, as saying that the reshuffle was the most “humiliating experience” of his life. However, Mazibuko is not without her backers. One of her loyal supporters told The Sunday Independent that there had been a “dramatic turnaround in the performance of caucus, both in Parliament and in the media” under Mazibuko’s leadership. The Sunday Independent quoted the supporter as saying: “The relevance of Parliament has been significantly enhanced by Lindiwe and her activist chief whip Watty Watson. Recent months have seen Parliament positioned at the centre of South African politics with debates of public importance on Marikana, Guptagate and the tragedy in the Central African Republic, and the past parliamentary term culminated in the firing of the ANC chief whip ostensibly because he was unable to remain effective given the pressure from the DA leadership in Parliament.”
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 08:52:09 +0000
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