Moodey resigns from DA, laments party’s ’defence of white interests’

John Moodey has resigned from the Democratic Alliance. Picture: Bhekikhaya Mabaso/African News Agency (ANA) Archives

John Moodey has resigned from the Democratic Alliance. Picture: Bhekikhaya Mabaso/African News Agency (ANA) Archives

Published Sep 2, 2020

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Johannesburg – Gauteng DA leader John Moodey has announced his resignation from the party as he accused it of being in defence of white interests and prejudiced against black South Africans.

Moodey announced his departure from the party on Wednesday, where he said those who had captured the official opposition were now firmly in charge and that he would have been kicked out of the party even if he had not left.

“We need to do what needs to be done now and I can’t and I can’t wait to resurrect a Democratic Alliance that is going off centre right quite frankly. That is not my cup of tea. I cannot defend the DA. I do not feel at home in the DA. I honestly don’t,” Moodey said.

Over the past few months, Moodey was among the contenders for the position of DA leader vacated by Mmusi Maimane late last year.

Moodey was up against interim leader John Steenhuisen and former federal youth leader Mbali Ntuli.

The election of the party’s former leader Helen Zille as the party’s leader triggered the departure of other prominent leaders, including former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba , who also accused the party of being captured by white conservatives and of being against redress in the country.

Moodey said while he had been tempted to stay because many black members convinced him as they had no protection without him, he had no choice but to cut ties with the DA due to the purge of black people.

“I have done it in the past. I have stayed on because of principles and I believed going in the right direct direction and I could still contribute. But there comes a point. The purge is real. There comes a time when you say I am tired of being the gladiator,” he said.

Moodey has been linked to Mashaba’s newly founded political party and has been supportive of Mashaba and Maimane’s expressed frustrations with the DA before they dumped it last year.

Moodey said one of the signs that the DA was being taken over by whites was many black mayors had been replaced by white mayors in the Western Cape, which he said influenced his decision to leave the party.

“If you just look at it, over the past few months, no less than five black mayors have been replaced by white mayors and there are these other people who left the party on those principles,” he said.

Mashaba said between 30% and 40% of the DA vote was from the white community but that black people were ignored by the party despite being the majority in terms of its electoral prospects and dividends.

“We are expendable,” he said.

Political Bureau

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