Cape Town – The ANC has slated the appointment of the DA’s interim provincial leader Bonginkosi Madikizela, saying that he was incapable of bringing change as he is “subservient to the white cabal”.
Criticising Madikizela for being a floor crosser who was expelled from the ANC in 2006 and the United Democratic Movement (UDM) in 2007, ANC provincial spokesperson Yonela Diko said with Madikizela at the helm, black people in the DA “will never stand up and demand justice”.
On Sunday, Cape Town mayor and former DA provincial leader Patricia De Lille congratulated Madikizela on his appointment and affirmed her “pledge to be there to assist the leadership in any way I can”.
De Lille, who vacated the position earlier this month, said she’ll be there to help Madikizela build support for the DA even more in the province on the road to 2019.
Diko said Madikizela and other black leaders in the DA should have “stood up and demanded better answers” about De Lille’s “unceremonious and irrational resignation” from the post before the end of her term in August 2017.
Madikizela should have demanded De Lille’s return, instead of using her resignation as an opportunity “to rise by any means necessary”, said Diko.
DA provincial spokesperson Anneke Scheepers said the party “will now unite in its diversity” behind Madikizela, “as we continue building on our record of progress and job creation ahead of the 2019 elections”.
“Since 2009, when the DA took over the Western Cape Government, 490 000 new jobs have been created. The opposition parties in the Western Cape don’t understand delivery at this scale. They are ill-informed, misguided and clearly just seeking relevance,” said Scheepers.
EFF provincial chairperson Bernard Joseph said, “It is a surprise that he was elected."
"There are rumours that he obtained 75% of the vote. There was clearly underhandedness in the processes used, in terms of the outcome.”
Joseph predicted that “after this weekend there will be more bickering, as the DA leadership alienate one another in terms of processes".