Durban - The vacant position of DA leader in eThekwini is likely to attract fierce competition as councillors in the party jostle to replace outgoing leader Nicole Graham.
Graham tendered her resignation yesterday and leaves the council at the end of next month to pursue her Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in Leadership and Enterprise at the University of Sydney in Australia.
Sources in the party said there were at least five people who were considered front-runners for her position. Two of the possible candidates said they would wait for the party to open the nominations process before speaking publicly about their availability to contest for the top job.
The nominations process could start at the end of this month. Those looking to enter the race, The Mercury understands, will have to be nominated, and to qualify, they will need to sign off on the nomination and get a seconder.
A new leader could be in the position by the time Graham leaves the council in July.
“The view inside the caucus is that she has excelled as a leader in eThekwini, and that the person elected should be someone who will live up to the standards that she has set,” said a source in the caucus.
“I think there could be as many as five people contesting the position. Among the front-runners are deputy leader Mzamo Billy and Exco member Thabani Mthethwa,” the source said.
Mthethwa said: “I can only speak on whether I would be interested in the position once the party officially opens the nominations process.”
Billy said: “There will be a nomination process, and all DA caucus councillors will have an opportunity to nominate their preferred candidate.
“It is only through that process that I will get to know and decide if I will contest the position of caucus leader, and subsequently leader of the opposition in eThekwini council.”
In a statement announcing her resignation, Graham said: “It is with a heavy and grateful heart that I give public notice of my resignation from my role as leader of the DA in the eThekwini council.
“I have also been awarded the University’s MBA Director’s Scholarship. Notably too, I am to be reunited with my sister and her family in Sydney, and this, coupled with the educational opportunities afforded to me, means I will be making Sydney my home for a while.”
The news of her departure drew mixed reactions from her colleagues in the council.
EFF councillor Thabane Miya said Graham’s contribution would be missed.
“As a long-serving councillor, she has done her duty in holding the governing party accountable.”
IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi said working alongside Graham had had its challenges.
“There have been instances where if we did not vote with the DA on a matter, she would post that on social media, forgetting that we are serving different constituencies. For instance, the DA does not vote for the budget, and if we do not vote for the budget, that affects our constituency.
“In some cases when we did not vote with the DA, she would inform her party’s provincial leadership immediately and they would call our leadership to query that,” he said.
Watch Graham speak ahead to the voting for new eThekwini mayor last year: