Beleaguered DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard will spend an uncomfortable few days waiting for the party’s decision on her future.
On Friday, she faced a disciplinary panel that sat in Cape Town to look into the issues surrounding a Facebook post she shared calling for the return of apartheid-era state president PW Botha.
Under Botha’s rule from 1984 to 1989, black people were denied the vote and were subjected to gross human rights abuses.
Kohler Barnard was represented by senior advocate Barry Roux, who defended Oscar Pistorius during his trial for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Kohler Barnard claimed she had not properly read the post before sharing it and said she had subsequently apologised.
The disciplinary committee was chaired by DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach, who is a former prosecutor for the National Prosecuting Authority and the party’s shadow minister of justice.
Kohler Barnard pleaded guilty to charges of misconduct, bringing the party into disrepute and breaking the party’s social media policy.
Sources told the Sunday Tribune, The Sunday Independent’s sister newspaper, that Kohler Barnard faced one or more of the following sanctions, although no one was prepared to say so officially:
- Fired as deputy chair of the party in KwaZulu-Natal;
- Fired as a DA whip in Parliament;
- A fine;
- A public apology in five national newspapers.
Breytenbach said Kohler Barnard’s fate would be decided at a meeting of the federal executive committee in the coming days.
The federal executive, chaired by James Selfe, can either accept the recommendations of the disciplinary committee or impose a stiffer sentence.
Sources within the party said Kohler Barnard faced the prospect of being kicked out of the DA.
They said the post she had shared had undone much of the good work that had been done to build the party.
They further claimed that by sharing the post Kohler Barnard had isolated herself from other party members, including senior leaders.
Last week, DA party leader Mmusi Maimane removed Kohler Barnard as shadow minister of police, a position she had held for almost 10 years.
She was moved to the low-key position of deputy public works shadow minister.
Maimane said his decision to move Kohler Barnard was taken in the best interests of the party.
DA leader in KwaZulu-Natal, Zwakele Mncwango, said: “This saga is indefensible but it’s wrong for people to judge the whole organisation by the wrongs of one person.
“We condemn what she did and we reiterate that the DA is a non-racial political party.”
However, Mark Lowe, a retired DA councillor and MP, expressed concern at how the matter was being handled.
He said Kohler-Barnard made a mistake and had apologised.
“The big fuss is unnecessary because she acknowledged her mistake. We should move on. Some senior members of the party have committed greater indiscretions but faced no repercussions,” he said.
Kohler Barnard did not respond to repeated attempts to get comment.
Sunday Independent