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Mbali Ntuli addresses the media about his candidacy for DA leadership.
Papi Morake, Gallo Images
- Mbali Ntuli, hopeful in DA leadership, has spoken out, describing a “cult” culture in the party.
- Ntuli says the current leaders have an “inside and outside clique” that is destroying the DA.
- He also claims that the party leaders are setting up disciplinary proceedings.
Mbali Ntuli, aspiring to the leadership of the DA, has described the behavior in the party as “cult” and has spoken of fear and the politicization of disciplinary processes.
In a letter to party delegates on Tuesday, Ntuli lamented the party leaders and said that since 2014, she has observed an existing “inside and outside clique” in the DA that was destroying the party.
“What we have seen is cult behavior associated with great personalities. Past leaders have been known to surround themselves with a small group of advisers, some with no experience in community building on the ground. Some are ideologues, while others just too happy to take advantage of their proximity to power to further their own ambitions.When there is a situation like that in a political party, a top-down management culture becomes dominant, forcing many to align themselves or risk being isolated, purged or frustrated to resign, “he wrote.
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Ntuli is known for being outspoken and disagreed with federal council president Helen Zille on several occasions on Twitter over the latter’s comments on race.
He said the party was not being destroyed by race, ideology or the young against the old, “but a simple old-fashioned takeover, often led by individuals who seem to believe that ruling out of fear is the only way to instill discipline and not be challenged. ” .
Ntuli added that he observed that leaders were not always open to opposing views and did not take responsibility for fixing what could go wrong.
She added that if elected as party leader, she would immediately embark on critical reforms that would allow the healing to begin.
Chief among these reforms was to end the politicization of the DA’s Federal Legal Commission (FLC), he said.
Speaking of a firewall at the FLC, he said the problem was that investigations, when concluded, were brought before provincial executive committees and the federal executive, and often the FLC found no further need to continue an investigation, just to being eluded by politicians with vested interests in bodies.
“These politicians will use the process as a weapon to ensure that their political opponents under investigation are persecuted, convicted, punished, excommunicated, or have their names dragged through the mud to diminish their political capital. This is abominable behavior. There is no consistency. on how discipline matters are handled due to this politicization.
“For example, I have sat at FedEx (the federal executive), where many members have been disenrolled for something like not paying their tithes after three months according to our party constitution. This used to concern me and as a result, I would advise to young new public representatives about these rules so that they could avoid suffering this fate. However, over the years, I have seen whip bosses, Members of Parliament and other high-level leaders avoid such penalties for the same infractions . This is grossly unfair. “
Ntuli’s letter comes after former federal president Athol Trollip spoke openly about the challenges facing the party. Trollip said that while he still believed the district attorney was the only party that had an offer for voters of different races, he believed that if the district attorney wanted to govern, they would have to overcome a racial confidence deficit.
“Because now there is a deficit of racial confidence in the Office of the Prosecutor due to the comments and statements of Zille, among others. If you can overcome that confidence and become a political destination for people of all races, yes, then they can govern those cities, but you are going to have to overcome it and they are going to overcome it in word and deed, “he said.
The DA recently held its political conference in which it took a political position that eliminated race as a criterion for redress.
In a letter to Zille last week, Ntuli suggested that political resolutions should be reviewed at the party’s elective congress.
READ ALSO | DA enters ‘no man’s land’ on policy issues, analysts say
The DA has been on a downward spiral since losing some of its traditional voters to FF Plus in the 2019 election.
The resignations of Mmusi Maimane, Herman Mashaba and, recently, DA Gauteng leader John Moodey, who was also running for party leader, has further fueled suggestions that the party was shedding black leaders.
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