Durban - Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has joined the war of words between DA leader John Steenhuisen and his predecessor Mmusi Maimane. Mbalula took to Twitter to back the former DA leader.
Steenhuisen had been quoted in a news report, criticizing Maimane, saying he focused too much on the ANC. This made Maimane angry, who referred to Steenhuisen as 'Judas', saying he had been in 'full agreement' with the strategy at the time.
“A key element of being leader of the opposition is to show the deficiencies in the ruling party.
Mbalula, a Cabinet member and a member of the governing party's national executive, said: “Yha Judas lo I agree he want to be a leader at your (Maimane) expense sies!”
Loosely, Mbalula said Steenhuisen wanted to lead the DA at Mmaimane's expense.
Yha Judas lo I agree he want to be a leader at your expense sies!
— Minister of Transport |Mr Fix (@MbalulaFikile) February 1, 2020
During his visit to Durban on Friday as part of his service delivery assessment across the country, Steenhuisen said he was not threatened by Maimane and former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba’s move to form a new political party.
The two left the party after the election of Helen Zille as the party’s Federal Council chairperson. They are now engaged in dialogue with South Africans in preparation to form a new political party.
Steenhuisen said newly formed political parties do not grow because South Africans were conservative and loyal to bigger parties.
“We have seen these personality parties come and go. We saw it with Cope (Congress of the People), we saw it with Agang SA, we have seen it with the ID (Independent Democracy) and we have seen it with so many others.
“It is very, very difficult to sustain a political organisation, but it not my job to worry about movements and dialogues as I want DA to be a party of action,” he said.