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From left to right, Democratic Alliance MP Phumzile van Damme and party leader John Steenhuisen. (Photos: Gallo Images / Sunday Times / Esa Alexander | Gallo Images / Brenton Geach)
DA leader John Steenhuisen placed MP Phumzile van Damme on a ‘forced sabbatical’ and removed her from his shadow cabinet. DA leadership says it’s all about caring about your health. Van Damme’s supporters suspect a more personal motive.
“I don’t want to hear his flattering voice.”
With these eight words, MP Phumzile van Damme may have temporarily torpedoed her career within the DA.
Van Damme’s comment was directed at the party’s leader, John Steenhuisen, and was made during a Zoom meeting at the start of the lockdown, when Van Damme thought his microphone was muted.
The incident was related to Daily maverick by two high-ranking members of the district attorney concerned about what they say has since been a hostile relationship between Steenhuisen and Van Damme.
Now, the DA leader ordered Van Damme to take a three-month health sabbatical and was replaced in her role as shadow communications minister by her colleague Zak Mbhele.
Van Damme refused to discuss the matter with Daily maverick, stating that the comment is reserved for internal legal challenge. On Twitter, however, she outrage expressed on Steenhuisen’s directive to take an unsolicited sabbatical.
“I have been open about being sick. I have been on sick leave for 3 months, until December 15th. I informed the Head of Whip, I would still focus on my committee work while on sick leave. I told him about my illness even though I didn’t need it. So it is being used against me to marginalize me, ”wrote Van Damme.
She added that even when she was ill, she outperformed many of her colleagues.
“I did not ask for a sabbatical. I determine my health. My doctors determine my health. He is not my employer. “
the letter written by Steenhuisen to Van Damme Informing him about the sabbatical year he stated:
“I remain very concerned about his health situation and the four chronic diseases that have been diagnosed. I understand that these have become incredibly debilitating for me to perform everyday functions such as walking due to chronic pain, vertigo, and dizziness. I also know that you need significant periods of bed rest. “
Steenhuisen added that the situation will be reassessed on March 30, 2021.
The newly elected DA leader made the decision to put Van Damme on a sabbatical on the eve of announcing his new shadow cabinet, the opposition term for spokesmen for government departments. Van Damme was announced as being replaced in her role by Mbhele. Steenhuisen has since said that even if she decided not to take the sabbatical, Mbhele would replace her.
Party members allege that it is quite clear that Steenhuisen is choosing to remove Van Damme as a result of animosity between the two, but because of her high-profile status in the party and her high-value contributions as communications minister in the Shadow, Steenhuisen is using Van Damme’s health condition as political cover.
Van Damme has earned accolades for his work on Parliament’s communications committee. He played a key role in the downfall of the public relations firm Bell Pottinger, employed by Gupta, and more recently has been a major voice in holding Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams to account.
Media attorney Justine Limpitlaw, a close observer of the SABC saga, said on Twitter that Van Damme is “always the best-prepared MP in the room” when it comes to the SABC hearings of Parliament.
However, Van Damme is known to be less popular with more conservative DA voters, who view her as unnecessarily outspoken on social media and were not impressed by her. 2019 public showdown at the V&A Waterfront with a family he accused of racism.
“This is clearly [aimed at] politically excluding someone who did not support John as a leader and who has had a deeply conflictual relationship with him, “said a senior party representative. Daily maverick.
“The leader could have changed her, as he is entitled, without the nonsense of a sabbatical. He didn’t have to evoke a sabbatical to justify his firing. Anyone serves in the shadow cabinet at the behest of the leader. “
The district attorney’s leadership insists that this interpretation is not accurate.
“There is genuine concern for Phumzile’s health,” said party chief Natasha Mazzone. Daily maverick.
“Of course, just shuffling the cabinet [to exclude her] Would have been easier. But that doesn’t address what we think is a serious problem. Part of leadership is knowing if someone is hurting. [Van Damme] you have been brave in documenting your illness; he had three months’ sick leave. But we felt that she would benefit from an extended break. ”
Mazzone confirmed that the Zoom incident occurred, but denied it had any lingering effects.
“There was a misstep at Zoom and it was fixed. We all laughed at that, and it was one of the Zoom laughs of the year, “he said. Daily maverick.
Van Damme has made clear on social media that he has no intention of leaving the DA and will launch a legal challenge against Steenhuisen’s move.
Supporters within the party say he is right to do so, noting that the district attorney has repeatedly questioned the presidential appointments and firings on the grounds that the decision was irrational. The same principle, they argue, is at stake here. DM
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